Vrindavani Vastra museum project begins in Guwahati, 18-months deadline set

Guwahati, Feb 22: The construction of a Cultural Museum Project to house the much-anticipated 500-year-old sacred Vrindavani Vastra will be completed on nearly two acres of land provided by the Sericulture Department in front of the APSC office in Guwahati.

“I believe within 1.5 years we will complete the construction,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.

Sarma made the announcement at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the museum at Jyoti Bishnu Antarjatik Kala Mandir, following a bhoomi poojan.

“Many years ago, the textile moved away from Assam. Today is the first step to bring the Vrindavani Vastra back to Assam; a textile of art which no generation has witnessed,” he said.

Calling it more than a historical artefact, Sarma added, “For the Assamese people, it is not just a mere piece of cloth. With it, Assam’s emotions, community and religious sentiments are intertwined.”

The Chief Minister said the sacred textile, created during the Vaishnavite movement led by Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva, travelled from Assam to Bhutan and Tibet before eventually reaching the British Museum as a result of historical developments.

Highlighting the stringent preservation conditions laid down by the British Museum for loaning the textile, Sarma said special logistical arrangements would be required.

“The flight carrying the Vastra should be a special one because it is a 500-year-old textile. If it receives sunrays or exposure a little more or less than necessary, its lifespan will decrease,” he said. Sarma noted that the Vastra is currently not on public display in London due to its fragile condition.

According to the Chief Minister, the British Museum has asked Assam to build a state-of-the-art facility with precise control over temperature, humidity and lighting before the artefact can be loaned.

Archaeologist Richard Blaton, speaking at the ceremony, described the Vastra as a “special treasure” and highlighted the mystery surrounding its weaving technique.

“One of the mysteries about the textile is how this technology was discovered and came to this country. Today, there is no descendant of this technique in the whole of India,” he said.

Blaton added that scholars believe the 12 individual strips that make up the Vastra were likely woven to wrap individual manuscripts, reflecting the deep devotion of the followers of Srimanta Sankardeva.

Earlier in November 2025, the Assam government and the JSW Group had signed an agreement to set up a world-class heritage museum.

“It is not just a piece of old historical cloth. It is Shankardeva’s tradition and a cultural identity for the state as well as the country. When economic progress and cultural pride walk hand in hand, only then does a confident Assam take shape,” said JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal.

With the foundation stone laid, the state government formally initiated what it described as the “homecoming journey” of one of Assam’s most sacred cultural treasures.