HYDERABAD: The oldest museum in Telangana is set to be renamed for the third time. Currently called Y S Rajasekhara Reddy State Museum, the building next to the State Assembly in Hyderabad, is likely to have a new name soon.
Sources at State Archaeology Department confirmed that a proposal to rename the museum has been sent to the State government. However, the State government is yet to take a final decision on it. The Seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ail Khan named this museum as Hyderabad Museum when it was established in 1930s. Then it was renamed as ‘Andhra Pradesh State Museum’ in 1950.
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n 2009, the then State government renamed it after former chief minister of AP, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy after his death in a helicopter crash. Now, the Telangana government is planning to rename it after any of the iconic personalities of Telangana movement. The State Archeology department in its proposal has recommended that the State government rename it either as Hyderabad State museum or Telangana State museum. A senior official from Archaeology Department said, “We thought the name of State museum should represent the whole State or the iconic city of Hyderabad. That is the reason we have proposed these two names. However, our proposal is still pending with the government.” Meanwhile, division of ancient artifacts at the museum is likely to be delayed a little more. Though the State Archeology department has been separated after bifurcation of the state, the rare collections at the museum are yet to be shared between the two States. Both AP and TS have already constituted a committee to design a framework for division which is still working on it.
Once the State museum is completely bifurcated, the existing building near Assembly will revert to Telangana government.