Meeras Mahal at Sopore, North Kashmir, was inaugurated in November 2023.
This is a museum dedicated to the collections of Atiqa Bano. Atiqa Bano (Behan Ji) (1940 – 4 October 2017) was an Indian educationist and activist for the artistic and cultural heritage of Kashmir. She established and curated the Meeras Mahal, a private museum of history and art at Highland Colony, Sopore in Baramulla Kashmir.
The museum houses her collection of 7000 artifacts from all over the Valley that she personally collected. After her retirement, she began then to collect historical and cultural artifacts, especially traditional ware and old manuscripts. Initially she housed them in a hostel building that was part of a college of education that her family owned. In 2001, she set up the Meeras Mahal, a heritage museum.
As the collection grew, she shifted it to a building in Highland Colony, Sopore. By now, it consisted of handwritten Qur’ans, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit manuscripts, historical coins, an entire history of the evolution of the Kashmiri pheran (wedding trousseau from both the Muslim and the Pandit communities), pottery, and artifacts related to the weaving of Pashmina textile.
It was during one of my meetings with Saleem Beg that I mentioned to him about contributing to a meaningful project in my father’s memory, who left us in 2021. I decided on Kashmir due to our (also my father’s) long association with the region. I couldn’t have thought of a better project to be associated with and especially since it was to be in memory of my father.
Along with INTACH KASHMIR, Span Foundation, which was founded by my father, took up the refurbishment work. The old hostel building was given a face-lift and internally re-structured to house galleries, AV room, conservation lab etc. Special thanks to Saima Iqbal and her team.
There is still a great deal of work to be done, both for the interior and exterior landscaping etc. We sincerely hope the local community and others come forward to help complete this project which is sure to become a landmark not only in the region but the entire Valley, both for those wanting to learn about the history of Kashmir through its craft and also for tourists.
The collections can be seen online: https://www.meerasmahalmuseum.com/
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