Making history viral, one post at a time

To attract history lovers, museum has taken to social media to disseminate information about ancient artefacts

LAHORE: For more than a century, the Lahore Museum has been serving the nation by collecting and preserving Pakistan’s cultural, religious and historical value. In keeping with modern times, the museum recently decided to take its presence to social media and launched its official page where information related to antiques and artefacts has been uploaded to attract the masses and develop their interest in history.

The museum includes items dating back to 600 BC which, according to historians, may help identify and disclose historical facts about Sindh as a melting pot of different civilisations and religions, including Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism.

Opened in 1894 during the British rule of the subcontinent and situated on the city’s historic Mall Road, the Lahore Museum is one of Pakistan’s most visited and highly regarded museums because of its centuries-old history and the precious artefacts preserved by it.

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The museum is divided into several sections, including a coins section, a pre and protohistoric gallery, a Hindu, Buddhist and Jain gallery, and Islamic gallery, Gandhara collection, miniature paintings gallery, manuscripts collection, a general gallery, ancient and historic arms collection, an ethnological gallery, postage stamps gallery, and arts and crafts gallery, postage stamps collection, contemporary paintings gallery and a gallery dedicated to the Pakistan Movement.

Knowing the importance of social media, especially among young people, museum authorities decided to create Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for the museum where information related to different rare artefacts preserved in the museum is shared on a regular basis.

Launched around a month ago, the Twitter page of the museum has attracted about 200 followers so far, while the page has already sent about 80 tweets. Similarly, the museum’s Facebook page has garnered more than 6,000 likes, while its Instagram account has about 90 followers so far.

The museum chooses an item from its vast collection and creates daily posts under the title of “object of the day.” Along with the picture of the chosen item, the museum also shares detailed information about it, including its accession number, date, and place of origin, material, technique, dimensions and its museum category.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the director of the Lahore Museum Tariq Mahmood Javed said that research on the artefacts led to some profound revelations.

“According to one research, the discipline of mathematics has its roots in the Indus Valley region in the form of ‘ludo’ – a game played members of the civilisation. Likewise, games like chess, cricket and baseball, among others, also began in the Indus valley with different rules and formats,” he said. “Although the formation and shapes were different altogether, the basic principles and roots could be traced back to the earliest civilisation of Sindh.” He also mentioned that the second largest collection in the Lahore Museum is related to Buddhism, adding that the most valuable asset stored at the Lahore Museum is the statue of ‘Buddha in Nirvana.’

“The Fasting Buddha, dating back to the Gandhara period, is one of the museums most prized and celebrated objects. Any person can know about Gautama Buddha from his birth to death in a few minutes.”

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The large collection of old and contemporary photographs at the Museum reflect the culture and people’s way of life in different periods. “We also have a large collection of coins, dating back to 6,000 B.C. We are proud that we have the largest collection of the world’s oldest coins, including gold, silver and copper. It is interesting to note that in the past, coins were issued in commemoration of particular personalities and events.”

Jawed also said that the museum took to the social media so that it not only attracts people from Pakistan but also to let the world know that we have historically-invaluable items preserved at the Lahore Museum.

“The government is also dedicated to improving the tourism sector of the country and the Lahore museum is also in line with the government’s agenda,” he concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2020.