A neatly decorated entrance opens into a narrow passage lined with prison barracks — quiet, sparse and unexpectedly orderly. Inside one room, a single bed with a navy blue sheet sits against a plain white wall next to a clay pot of drinking water and a compact ablution area. A thick black grate separates the occupants from the corridor outside, but the barrack itself is decently sized, well ventilated and stripped down to the bare essentials.
A few steps away, another barrack has four beds arranged opposite each other, recreating the shared living spaces common in prisons. Further ahead is a heavily secured barracks, enclosed by two layers of lattice structures that limit movement and visibility. Inside there are only the basics — a bed, a small table, a wash basin and a water container.
These are not holding cells, but part of a new immersive initiative at Hyderabad’s Chanchalguda Central Jail, where ordinary citizens can now choose to spend 12 or 24 hours experiencing prison life first-hand. The fee for a 24-hour experience has been set at ₹2,000, while a 12-hour experience will cost ₹1,000. Entry to the Chanchalguda Jail Museum has been priced at ₹10 for students and ₹20 for other visitors, while children below 10 years of age will be admitted free.
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Launched by the Telangana Prisons Department on Tuesday (May 12, 2026), the paid program called ‘Feel the Jail’ allows members of the public to live as prisoners in specially designed barracks, complete with prison food, regulated routines and restricted movement, which aims to offer a realistic look at incarceration.
The initiative was launched along with the Chanchalguda Jail Museum, which is now the fifth jail museum in the country after Andaman and Nicobar Islands Cellular Jail, Alipore Jail Museum in Kolkata, Bengal Central Jail Museum and Goa Central Jail Museum.
The prison experience space, while modest in scale, feels surprisingly intimate. The simplicity of the barracks is in stark contrast to the darker chapters of India’s prison history preserved inside the adjacent museum.
Inside the museum, visitors are confronted with reminders of colonial-era incarceration through old punishments, iron shackles, historical prison records and rare artifacts that document how prisoners were once subjected to severe physical and psychological torture.
Inaugurating the museum, Telangana Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla said that it is not just a collection of historical items but an attempt to show how prisons in India have evolved from repressive spaces to correctional institutions.
Recalling the treatment of prisoners during the colonial era, the governor described how prisoners were once forced to stand for hours with stones tied to their feet and their hands restrained.
“They could neither sit nor sleep. Their bodies were physically, mentally and emotionally broken, but their souls could not be destroyed,” he said. “This experience gives us a glimpse of what our freedom fighters and former prisoners endured before independence.”
Drawing on his own incarceration during the Emergency, the governor spoke emotionally about prison reforms and the need to humanize prisons.
“I spent 19 months and 30 days in prison during the Emergency. It was then that I understood what life in prison really means and the challenges prisoners face,” he said.
He recalled how he later served as prisons minister and introduced reforms after witnessing prison conditions firsthand.
“At that time, prisoners fanned themselves manually in the barracks. For the first time, we introduced fans, televisions and canteens to prisons. The prisoners were really happy. The reforms started with small acts of dignity,” he said.
He emphasized that prisons should not function only as detention centers. “Not every person in prison is beyond redemption. Prisons must become correctional centers where people realize their mistakes and renew themselves,” he added.
Director General of Telangana Prisons Soumya Mishra described the launch of both the museum and the ‘Feel the Jail’ initiative as a major milestone in the development of correctional administration in the state. “The goal is not entertainment, but awareness, empathy, discipline and understanding,” she said.
Mr. Mishra said the initiative was designed especially for students and young citizens to better understand the value of freedom, lawful conduct and social responsibility. “People often see prisons only as places of punishment. We want society to understand that prisons today are also places of rehabilitation, reform and skill development,” she said.
She said the museum has been carefully curated to document the journey of the Telangana prison system from a repressive institution to a modern correctional system focused on rehabilitation and reintegration.
The museum contains sections on prison history, crime and punishment, old prison structures, penal instruments, prison industries, products made by prisoners, and prison labor on nation-building projects, including the construction of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam between 1961 and 1968.
Another major attraction is a gallery displaying prison-made products and exhibits highlighting inmates’ skills, creativity and vocational training initiatives.
Mishra said the fee collected from both the prison museum and the prison experience initiative will contribute to the inmate welfare and development fund.
Published – 12 May 2026 14:34 IST
