Virtual Museum Bangladesh inaugurates Somapura Mahavihara

Celebrating a new addition to its collection of historical sites, Virtual Museum Bangladesh organised the inauguration ceremony of Somapura Mahavihara yesterday at Liberation War Museum, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar. With the aim to preserve Bangladesh's heritage sites, the museum initially started its journey back in 2017 with its founder Ahamed Jaman Sonjib, and co-founders Yeasmin Ratna, Ashik-e-Elahi Auni, Omar Sharif, and Dhiman Saha.

Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Prime Minister's Adviser for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, attended the ceremony as the chief guest.

Present as special guests of the event, were noted personas, Sara Zaker, trustee of the Liberation War Museum, Professor Dr Sheema Hoque, Department of Archeology, Jahangirnagar University, and Razoun Siddiky Tohin, International Education Stratagist.

Somapura Mahavihara in Virtual Museum Bangladesh

The event began with a short speech from the founder of Virtual Museum Bangladesh, Ahamed Jaman Sonjib. He said, "I want the museum to exist as long as the world exists because these sites are now on cloud—they won't be lost or destroyed anymore."

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Preserving Bangladesh’s heritage sites in virtual reality

"We launched the beta version of the museum last year," he added. "But we still have much more to do. Currently, the historical sites still do not have any human or animal figures. The cultural elements like how the people of that time looked, their clothing, or how they lived, are still absent. In the final version of the sites, we want to fill this absence. So that every visitor feels like they have travelled back in time" concluded the founder.

"Many of our ancient monuments, and historical sites have decayed over time," shared Sara Zaker. "But with virtual reality, the authorities of the museum have restored the monuments to their near-perfect states. One can just see how these structures looked thousands of years ago, which is a great endeavor."

"However, as virtual reality brings everything within hand reach, we must not forget the value of experiencing the original ourselves," she added.

The terracotta carvings at the Somapura Mahavihara in Virtual Museum Bangladesh

Toward the end of the event, the chief guest Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury took the stage. "I believe youngsters of Virtual Museum Bangladesh are doing a great job in preserving our historical sites for the next generation," said the Advisor.

He concluded by saying, "Nowadays, even education has gone online with the advent of multimedia labs in schools. Back in our school days, history classes were just reading names, dates, and locations. With the Virtual Museum authorities' plan to put human figures in the historical sites, those histories will come alive for the next generation. For that, we should all encourage and aid Virtual Museum Bangladesh."