Idling heritage: 2 restored bldgs stay shut

Chennai: Tourists may be missing one of the city’s iconic attractions as the National Art Gallery is yet to be thrown open to public. Though restoration of the Indo-Saracenic style structure was completed earlier this year, it remains out of bounds for art lovers.

Located on the Government Museum premises at Egmore , it housed several rare collections of art till it was closed for renovation in 2015.

While an exclusive gallery at the National Art Gallery was dedicated to Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings, art works of eminent Indian artists from various art schools were on display.

Heritage enthusiast and writer R Venkatesh said it was the only permanent art gallery operating in the city. “It housed rare art collections. Art lovers miss it,” he said.

The heritage structure, formally known as Victoria Memorial Hall, is the lone sandstone colonial building constructed by the British in Chennai, modelled on the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri near Agra. Then governor of Madras Sir Arthur Lawley laid the foundation for commencing the construction in 1906 and it was completed in 1909. The 15-metre tall pink building is spread over 7,250sqft.

As part of the restoration of the structure, sandstone was sourced from Sathyavedu in AP. According to public works department sources, restoration was completed before April this year at an outlay of 11crore and the building was handed over to the department of museums. When contacted, museum department sources said work pertaining to setting up of panels to display the art pieces was holding up the reopening of National Art Gallery. “It is a crafted work that has been handed over to an agency. We are expecting the work to be completed in two months,” a museum official added. About 200 art pieces, including paintings, would be put on display, sources added.