Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library is known as the Bhawan for Teenagers in Murthy (sculptor is Leonard Jennings from the UK). It was designed by the famous Robert Thor Russell, who also created the Connaught Place and several parts of Gianpatt's designs. Prior to this, the architect built three statues in honor of three Indian principalities, namely: Jodhpur, Hyderabad and Mysore . The construction of a 30-acre building began in 1929 and took 1 year. This is a masterpiece of British and French architecture and woodworking. At first it was known as the Phlegstaff House, and the British authorities used it as the residence of the commander in chief. After India gained independence, the house became the residence of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) - the first Prime Minister of India . After his death in 1964 , it was decided to convert the building into a museum and library, which contributed to the study of the history of India with a special emphasis on the Nehru era.

The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library were created on April 1, 1966 . At first the museum was arranged in the eastern wing, and the library in the western wing of the oblong house. Bal Ram Nanda founded it and was a director for 17 years. For his services, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2003.

With time and the rapid growth of research materials in the library, there was not enough space, so a separate building was built for the library. It was officially opened by President V.V. Geary in January 1974. Due to the constant increase in the volume of material needed for research, the museum needed additional rooms that were built in 1989. The Center for Contemporary Education was established in this building as a new department in 1990.

In honor of the celebration of the Foundation Day of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, they organize an annual lecture on April 1, entitled "Lecture on the foundation day of the Memorial Museum named after Jawaharlal Nehru. " The Nehru Planetarium is also part of the museum. In addition, a lot of work is being done to familiarize people with this place, especially the children who are considered closest to Jawaharlal Nehru, as evidenced by the name given to him “Chacha Nehru”. The library also has an archive of private correspondence between Nehru and Edvina Mountbatten, the wife of Lord Mountbatten , but he is in restricted access.

The Center for Contemporary Education was created as a department of progressive research in 1990 and is housed in new buildings. The museum took over the financing of the Nehru Planetarium and the Nehru Memorial Fund in 2005 .

A collection of manuscripts, historical documents, and other archival materials from the memorial museum and library became available online after digitization using information systems, which began in 2010 . Until May 2011, the Ministry of Culture, thanks to this project, digitized 50 collections of manuscripts, 834 interview records, 29 802 photos, more than one hundred thousand images of the newspaper Amrita Bazar Patrika (1905-1938). Digitization is estimated to be over nine million documents and will be completed by the end of 2015.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF) was founded in New Delhi on August 17, 1964 under the leadership of Indian President S. Radhakrishnan and his secretary Indira Gandhi . The Foundation awarded “Scholarships named after J. Nehru "since 1968, as well as" Scholarships for postgraduate studies in India and abroad, "initiated by the Ministry of Human Resources Development since 1993, and also organizes the" Annual Lecture named after J. Nehru "on the eve of the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru ( November 14 ). He also promotes or finances a number of institutions, including Anand Bhawan, the Jawahar Planetarium and the Jawaharlal Bal Bhawan, all in the Anand Bhawan complex in Allahabad .

In 2009, several prominent scholars, such as Ramachandra Guha , Samit Sarkar, Nivedita Menon, Nayanjot Lahiri, Mushirul Hassan, Mukul Kesawan, Mahesh Ranjarajan and Krishna Kumar, claimed that the institution works in an ineffective and corrupt system. They noted that the Nehru Museum and Library suspended its publication program and activities. In turn, the writer and activist Madhu Kishvar, ecologist Pradeep Kishen and historians Irfan Habib and D.N. Jah supported the museum and its director Mridulu Mukherjee.

• nehrumemorial.nic.in/en/ - official site of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library