Virasat-e-Khalsa, the pioneer museum built by State govt. at Sri Anandpur Sahib has scripted another chapter in its rising glory by becoming the most visited museum in the Asian sub-continent. Announcing this here Minister of Cultural Affairs and Tourism, Charanjit Singh Channi said the ‘Asia Book of Records’ have confirmed the record of ‘maximum footfall in a museum in a day’ in the name of Virasat-e-Khalsa which will feature in the next edition of Asia Book of Records. The museum has witnessed a record footfall of 20569 visitors on 20th March 2019.“This in fact is the third entry of Virasat-e-Khalsa into record books, coming on the back of its listing in ‘Limca Book of Records-Feb 2019 Edition’ and ‘India Book of Records-2020 Edition’ in the current year”, Mr. Channi underscored.Effusive in his fulsome glorification of the museum, the minister continued that the total footfall of visitors at Virasat-e-Khalsa, conceived to commemorate the prideful 550 years history and culture of Punjab and Sikhism, has crossed the 10 million mark in just 7.5 years which is matter of pride for Punjab. Virasat-e-Khalsa, an iconic museum, stands out in terms of popularity, visitor footfall, architecture, grandeur and aesthetics; as also in its use of technology, infrastructure and world class standards of maintenance and upkeep, the minister emphatically said. Welcoming visitors in thousands daily, foreign Prime Ministers and Presidents included, is a humbling experience that makes Virasat-e-Khalsa the most visited museum in the continent, he acceded.
For the students and architects,Virasat-e-Khalsa is a case study for its afore-mentioned features, he said. The uniqueness and world class standards here have prompted all the visiting dignitaries to eulogize about Virasat-e-Khalsa in its Visitor’s Book.The Minister concluded with a resolve that the ministry of Cultural Affairs will vie for getting Virasat-e-Khalsa into ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ now, opining in the same vein that it is time the museum be developed into an institution.“Records apart”, Principal Secretary Tourism, Mr. Vikas Pratap picked up from where the Minister left, “Virasat-e-Khalsa has been doing exceptionally good on many other fronts too”. Elaborating, he said Virasat-e-Khalsa has beenadjudged for the Second Prize by the Punjab Energy Development Agency in the ‘State Level Energy Conservation Award Competition’ for taking extra efforts for Efficient Utilization, Management and Conservation of Energy He said the town of Sri Anandpur Sahib has witnessed a big boost in economy ever since inauguration of Virasat-e-Khalsa.Director, Cultural Affairs Mr. Malwinder Singh Jaggi, who also holds the charge of Chief Executive Officer of Virasat-e-Khalsa, said the foundation stone of Virasat-e-Khalsa was laid on 22nd Nov. 1998. The soft inauguration of its building was done in April 2006 by the incumbent Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh. The Phase-I of the museum was inaugurated on 25th Nov. 2011. Phase-II was opened to the public 5 years hence on 25th Nov. 2016.