Art and culture experts, officials begin work on 'Bharat ki Jhaanki' Parliament

At least three panels comprising experts on art and culture, and officials have begun work on finalising the overall look of the new Parliament, including its interior decoration, art installations and paintings.

A high-powered committee, headed by culture secretary Govind Mohan, officials from the urban development and culture ministries and experts such as film maker and Central Board of Film Certification head Prasoon Joshi, archaeologist KK Muhammed, dancer Padma Subramanian, academician TV Kattimani who is also an expert on tribal knowledge systems, American-Indian architect and urban planner Christopher Benninger, former Prasar Bharati chairman and writer A Suryaprakash and Raghuvendra Tanwar, Indian Council of Historical Research chairman, have been given the mandate to ensure that the Parliament's look depicts 'Bharat ki Jhaanki' (A peak into the Indian identity).

While KK Muhammed was formerly with the ASI and part of the team that carried out excavation of Ayodhya at the formerly contested site, Tanwar has published books on Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar and India's partition.

Another high-powered committee for the execution of the plan has been constituted under Sachidanand Joshi, member secretary of Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts (IGNCA) that also includes art historian Gauri Krishnan, VK Srivastava, vice-chancellor (VC) of the MS University (MSU), Vadodara, Adwaita Gadanayak, sculptor and Director General of the government-run National Gallery of Modern Art. They have been tasked with the work of executing and monitoring the installations of art and decor at the Parliament building. Two educational institutions -- MSU, Vadodara and IIT Kharagpur -- known for their work on fine arts and Indian knowledge systems respectively have been roped in to make these decisions.

The new Parliament, as per the deliberations, is likely to present India's diverse traditions, with emphasis on the Vedas, Upanishads, yoga, bhakti movement, Sufi and Kabirpanth, sacrifices of Sikh gurus, and folk traditions, apart from religious diversities, said a member on condition of anonymity. The committees have decided to keep the parliament decor not very tech heavy but subtle and representative of the Indian ethos.

"We want to be mindful of the fact that this is not a museum or an art gallery, but the Parliament that will house the representatives of the people. We want to make sure the art is relatable to the common people too," said an official.