The historic Tripura State Museum in Agartala will soon be reaping the benefits of Dipa Karmakar's inspiring show at the Rio Olympics. After being in existence for over 40 years, the 'palace' - as locals term it - will soon comprise a separate sports gallery, highlighting the state's progression in the sporting arena over the past several decades.
The gallery will trace back Tripura's baby steps in sports and will go as far back to the time when the last ruler of the state, Raja Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur reigned from 1947 to 1949; perhaps even before. This promises to add further glory to the state after it was earlier announced that a Bangladesh Liberation War museum will also be gracing the city soon to commemorate the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, adding to Tripura's rich collection of cultural and artistic sites.
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According to the authorities of the 1970-constructed museum, the concept of having a gallery dedicated to sports is not new. It was first considered almost two years back when Dipa had put the state, particularly Agartala, on the map by winning a Bronze medal during the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. It is since then that the wheels have been in motion.
"We are proud of what Dipa has achieved, and I believe her heroics is what has led us [the museum authorities], with the permission of the state government, to come up with a sports gallery. This will be unique since unlike most museums, we will trace back the coming of sports from the time when the kings used to rule the state," HOD of the museum, Prateek told TOI Sports. "I was made aware of it a couple of years back, but it wasn't initiated for some or the other reason. Today I'm happy to know it's finally happening. I can't tell you the exact time as to when it'll be ready, but the idea is to have it up for visits by next year.
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The inauguration of the museum also holds a significance importance for one of Tripura's Gymnastics torchbearers, Montu Debnath, India's second gymnast to win the Arjuna award in 1975, who handed his trophy to the museum authorities a few years back, in hope that it'll be up and running soon. Years later, that prestigious award which holds immense significance for the rise of gymnastics in the country, will finally see daylight.
"Of course, our priority will be to have Mr. Mantu Debnath's Arjuna award to be up for display. We have special arrangements for it, which I won't disclose now. Apart from that, there is a vast collection of imagery and other mementos, which not many are aware of," Prateek said. Tripura's cricket team is not the strongest in the domestic format but people here have a liking for it as expected. So cricket will be part of it, and so will tennis. Somdev Devvarman is Agartala's only representative in tennis for the country, so we'll feature him too."
And what about Gymnastics, the sport the city and the state are known for?
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"Oh, is that even a question? It won't be a sports gallery without gymnastics. From Mr. Dalip Singh, the father of gymnastics in Tripura, to Dipa's stunning effort in Rio, we plan on having each and every achievement on display. There have been so many tremendous athletes from our circuit who have done so much and given recognition to the state. Mr. Nandi (Dipa's coach and five-time national champion), Bharat Kishore Deb Burman (Tripura's first gold in the sport at the national level) and others have been highly instrumental," Prateek said.
Equally on cloud nine is Debnath, who admits he was waiting for this day for a long time. "When I was made secretary of the Tripura Sports Council, I had given my award to them. Today, my wait is finally over," he says.
It is no secret as to how much the state has benefitted from the contributions of the likes of Debnath, Burman, Nandi, and now Dipa. It is only fitting that they get their own 'hall of fame' soon.