Due to incessant rains, Jaipur has been witnessing for the past few days, the rainwater gushed inside the Albert Hall Museum of Jaipur, several antiquities have been damaged.
The floodwater reached high up to 4 feet and the Mummy kept here preserved in a box had to be taken out to a safe place. The mummy was taken out of the showcase for the first time in 130 years.
The box was in the gallery of the basement of the museum. There was only a 4-5 inch gap left. If there was a delay of even a few minutes, the mummy would have sunk and this loss could never be recovered. The mummy was removed safely by breaking the glass cover.
Speaking to the Superintendent of Albert Hall, Dr Rakesh Chholak said, “Our priority was to save the mummy first. This mummy is of historical significance. It is from the Chandragupta Maurya era in India. There are only seven mummies in India.”
The day mummy was recovered, the head office of the Archaeological Department was also flooded by 5 feet, soaking hundreds of files of all the departments of the state. For the past four days, officers and employees have been busy drying each file. There was a loss of 2-3 crores, the tourist’s entry was also closed for 7 days.
Scores of people had to be deployed at the Albert Hall Museum to restore the antiquities. Other than the 2400-year old Egyptian mummy, some valuable documents and photographs at the Museum were almost destroyed due to the rainwater.
Rajasthan Tourism Minister also visited the Albert Hall Museum on Tuesday to assess the damage caused to the historical building.
The mummy displayed at the Albert Hall Museum was of a woman named Tutu. It was brought from Cairo to India more than a century ago. This mummy was found 2300 years ago from the Admin area of Panopolis, a city of Egypt. This woman was a member of the family of priests worshipped by Khem Devta.
In April 2017, the mummy was shifted to the basement of Albert Hall in Jaipur. In the museum here are displayed its history, birth-death relationship, method of making mummy and X-ray of this mummy.