As entering museums physically isnot possible during the lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak, many people are taking the virtual route to visit the exhibits leading to higher viewership in their online gallery.Senior officials of The Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Indian Museum and the Victora Memorial on Thursday said more people than usual are taking virtual tours through the galleries.One of the prominent science museums in the city, the BITM has recorded 522 viewers since launching its virtual gallery in the evening of March 31."Since our virtual gallery was launched only recently, after the lockdown came into force, there is no way we can compare it with any previous figures. But this 522 views till now cannot be very little considering the online gallery was launched at 8:36 pm on March 31," a BITM spokesman said.The exhibits include one of the earliest telephone sets, a 16mm movie projector and the machine in which Rabindranath Tagore had recorded his song 'Tobu Mone Rekho'. These were earlier put for public view at the new gallery of the museum which generally records a footfall of over 2,000 on a day, many of them being school children.The Indian Museum online gallery, created two years back, has recorded a spurt in its online visits since the lockdown, an official said.The gallery shows some rare objects which are among only 10 per cent of the over 14,000 items in the arts section of the museum, one of the oldest and largest museums in south west Asia, an official told PTI on Thursday.The ornaments exhibited include a bow ring studded with emerald of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, one 18th century crown of an idol of goddess Lakshmi which is studded with rubies, emeralds, turquoises, corals and pearls of Nepal, the official said."We have recorded 20,237 'online visits' till now and a sizeable part of these viewers have logged in after the coronavirus-triggered lockdown," the official said but could not give a break-up of the figures before and after the lockdown.The online gallery exhibits also include objects dating back to the 4th millennium BC to 7th century AD in the archaeological section and one relic casket of Goutam Buddha with inscriptions."While we had initially launched the online gallery section for those unable to physically come to the museum premises, it has been a boon for those museum enthusiasts who are now staying at home during this lockdown," the official said.The curator of Victoria Memorial Jayanta Sengupta said people are showing greater interest in making virtual tours at its Facebook page where some of the exhibits are highlighted."Our virtual gallery is yet to be uploaded. But people can have a glimpse of the exhibits at our Facebook page, he told PTI.The exhibits include the Tipu Sultans sword and the 'Bharatmata' painting of Abanindranath Tagore.All the officials said this is the first time in recent history that the museums are closed for such a long period.The state government announced on March 14 that all museums of the state will remain closed till March 31 to avoid large gatherings in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 25 announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country.
