Museum of rare palm leaf manuscripts to get ₹5 crore support

Kakinada MLA Vanamadi Venkateswara Rao and Deputy Director of the Department of Archeology and Museums K. Timma Raju inspect a palm leaf manuscript at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Government Museum and Research Institute in Kakinada on Tuesday. | Photo credit: BY ARRANGEMENT

The much-awaited construction of the new building of the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Government Museum and Research Institute, Kakinada, is set to begin in early August, with the Ministry of Culture releasing ₹5 crore under the museum grant scheme. The Ministry of Culture and the State Government are to provide ₹10 crore under the 80:20 funding scheme.

Kakinada MLA Vanamadi Venkateswara Rao told The Hindu on Tuesday; “The Ministry of Culture has released ₹5 crore to start construction of the new museum building. Tenders have been floated and work will begin in early August. This is one of the prominent projects being pursued by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Kakinada district.”

The museum is home to nearly 5,000 palm leaf manuscripts dating from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Of these, the chemical treatment of 500 manuscripts for conservation was completed in 2021. The manuscripts belong to the fields of Ayurveda, mathematics, astrology, Telugu and Sanskrit literature and classical music.

In the 1970s, the literary organization Andhra Sahitya Parishad handed over its collection of manuscripts to the museum for preservation. The museum also houses Buddhist pillars, statues, megalithic tools, copper and bronze plates and coins.

“The new building has been designed as a single-storey and four-storey structure. We are yet to finalize the building where the museum’s collection could be housed during the construction of the new building,” said K. Timma Raju, department of archeology and deputy director of the museum.

Published – 14 Jul 2026 22:16 IST