PANJAB KESARI, 26 AUGUST

 

MINI MUSEUM TO BE BUILT IN MEMORY OF NICHOLAS ROERICH IN GUNGSHEL
WORK OF MINI MUSEUM TO BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER
KULLU: The ongoing work of a mini museum in memory of great Russian Artist Nicholas Roerich in Gungshel, which is 2 to 3km from Keylong,,will be completed by the end of September. The great Russian Artist Roerich had a close relation with Naggar, which is situated in Kullu valley, and it was here that he lived the finest years of his life as an artist. Only few peopleknow of Roerichs close association with Lahul and Spiti District, particularly with Lahul he had a very close association. Renowned Historian of Lahul Tsering Dorje tells that great Nicholas Roerich,with his wife and two sons reached Naggar from their Central Asian expedition and chose Naggar as his field work. Remembering Roerich, Dorje says the great artist had a very close relation with Lahul, as it was here he spend four summer seasons. He adds further that in year 1929, 1930,1931, and 1932 Roerich used to come to Lahul in summers, and chose Gungshel near Kyelang as his summer abode, and later build a small house. Later on he also built a private studio nearby.  He visited Lahul for four consecutive years and in the meantime he completed around 130 paintings in Lahul which included paintings from Koksar to Baralacha la. Once this mini museum is completed the Ambassador of Russia will inaugurate the opening ceremony in October which also marks the 70 years of diplomatic relation between India and Russia. It will also serve in strengthening the relation between the two countries. 9 th October also marks the birth of Nicholas Roerich, which will be celebrated in Naggar museum, in Kullu district.
MEMORY OF ROERICH TO BE TREASURED
Historian Tsering Dorje says the Roerich house in Gungshel was in a shabby condition and later on it collapsed. He tells that in order to keep Roerichs memories alive it was neccesary to reconstruct the museum, which resulted in the formation of the Roerich society in 2009. At present Tsering Dorje himself is the president of the Roerich society in Lahul, whereas Nawang Upasak is the general secretary. After the formation of the society in 2009, everyone contributed for the restoration of mini museum. Dorje says he never saw Nicholas Roerich, but he knew George very well, who was the elder son of Nicholas. It also enabled Dorje to know and understand a lot about Nicholas Roerich.
MINI MUSEUM WILL BOOST TOURISM IN LAHUL
The museum being built in memory of Roerich, will be a subject of curiosity for those who loved Roerich, and who liked his paintings. All the followers of Roerich worldwide who want to know Roerichs relation with Lahul and what kind of paintings he created living in this remote land. Of all the paintings of Roerich, by the name of “Himalayan series” will be compared with the mountains of Lahul, so as to know which mountains of Lahul inspired him to create such art work.

                           D.C OF LAHUL SPITI RAISED THE FUNDS FOR MUSEUM
With the thought of mini museum on our minds we formed Lahul Roerich Society in 2009, and in year 2013-16, we informed District Commissioner of Lahul, Mr Vivek Bhatia, about the restoration of Roerich museum. The D.C on his own level was instrumental in raising the funds for the museum. Later on the society started making efforts for treasuring Roerichs museum. In the meantime few tourists would come to Gungshel to see the shabby house of Roerich. The society decided to choose the same site for the museum, where Roerich spend four summers. So now the restoration work is carried out on the same site in Gungshel.