The 16th century Vrindavani Vastra of Assam now owned by British Museum London can be sent to the state for exhibition if the Assam government takes responsibility of its safety, security and insurance, said a curator of the Museum.
"If the Assam government takes the responsibility of safety and security and the insurance of the Vrindavani Vastra, the British Museum Authority would send it to Assam for exhibition here," Thomas Ricahrd Blurton, Head of the South Asian Section, Department of Asia, of British Museum told media today.
Blurton said this to a query at an interactive session following his power-point presentation on Vrindavani Vastra in Tezpur University this evening.
"The *Vrindavani Vastra* is a drape woven by Assamese weavers during the 16th century under the guidance of Vaishnavite saint and socio-religious reformer Srimanta Sankardeva. The large drape illustrates the childhood activities of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan", Blurton said.
Stating parts of the original *Vrindavani vastra* are presently owned by Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Musee Guimet (the Guimet Museum) in Paris, he said the piece of cloth demonstrates the skillful weaving methods developed during medieval times and such complexity is rarely seen in present day Assam.
"Assamese silk weavers depicted scenes from Bhagavata, Mahabharata, mainly of the childhood days of Lord Krishna on silk cloths under the supervision of Saint, scholar, and poet Srimanta Sankardeva and his disciple Srimanta Madhvadeva during 16th Century," said Richard who has conducted active programmes of contemporary collecting, most notably in eastern and north-eastern India.
