Sambalpur: The 120-year-old Veer Surendra Sai Town Hall (VSS) which is more than a century old will soon be developed into a museum and opened for visitors, officials said here Sunday. The Town Hall is closely linked to the history and culture of this district. It was earlier known as Victoria Town Hall and the foundation stone for it was laid during the British Raj in 1902. Engineer JB Leven Thorpey of Central Province designed the Town Hall building. It was inaugurated by JP Hewety, Chief Commissioner of Central Province in 1904. Former royals, zamindars and affluent traders of Sambalpur region contributed handsomely to the construction of the building. The zilla school, women’s college, Trust Fund College and the district library were all functioning once from this building.
Officials informed that the plan to develop the building into a museum has been on the cards for some time now. The renovation of the building was completed in 2022 and now steps have been initiated to turn it into a museum. The Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has been given the charge to develop the Town Hall into a museum, historian Deepak Panda, senior member of the association’s Sambalpur Chapter informed. He added that plans are underway to hand over the museum to the state government by December. The museum will house designs of ancient Sambalpur, traditional Bandha art, Manga, traditional weaving equipment used to make clothes, traditional jewellery of this region, musical instruments and other attractions of western Odisha.
The museum will also display traditional sports goods which are on the verge of extinction, ancient idols and historical articles. Ancient artefacts recovered from various places in this district as well as Dokra art of Munder area in Padiabahal, bow and arrows of Jujumora, clay works of Barpali area will also be displayed in the museum. When contacted, Vedbhushan, Commissioner of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) said that the visitors to the museum will come to know about the life, tradition and culture of Sambalpur region. This place will certainly attract a large number of visitors, he added.
