President calls for research on artists

PATNA: President A P J Abdul Kalam here on Friday visited the Patna Museum and saw the rare relics of Lord Buddha, kept in the Buddha gallery, and the beautiful sculpture of Deedarganj Yakshini. The Buddha relic casket, which has been preserved nicely here, impressed him. When museum curator Madhuri Agrawal said that the sculpture of Yakshini depicts the most beautiful woman of the world, the President admired it and inquired whether research and findings had been made about the sculptor who had chiselled it so well.But in the museum records there is no trace of the sculptor. The President also saw the 40-lakh-year old pine tree kept on the museum premises. He was shown the Thanka paintings and the manuscripts of famed indologist Rahul Sankrityayan. Kalam said these must have been created with great effort. He stated that the manuscripts kept at the Patna Museum should be microfilmed. He also saw the artefacts of Maitreya, the future Buddha and Awalokiteshwar. Minister, art and culture, Ashok Kumar Singh presented the President a two feet high plaster of paris replica of Yakshini and a set of books, brochures and literature depicting the rare artifacts preserved at the Patna Museum.In the museum's visitors' diary, Kalam wrote about the inspiration he got through the grace of Buddha and his enlightened message radiating at the museum. He called for launching of research work to discover the sculptors and painters who had contributed to the beauty and peace of humanity. At the K P Jayaswal Research Institute on the museum premises, the President saw the recent findings excavated from the Pandavsthan, Samastipur, Ramchaura and Vaishali archeological sites and the institute's publications on history, archaeology and the translated and edited versions of Tibetan manuscripts. Kalam told institute director Vijay Kumar Chaudhary about the imperatives of continued research on Indian history. While talking about the foreign invasion in India in the last 3,000 years, the President asked a queer question, Why did not the Indian warrior kings invade outside the country?. Chaudhary promised that he would start a research project on this. Minister, higher education, Ram Lakhan Ram Raman presented the President a copy of the photograph of a Burmese model, made in stone, of Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya.