T-55 battle tank to be major attraction in Manjusha Museum in Dharmasthala

Mangaluru: T-55 battle tank will be the new attraction at the famous Manjusha Museum in Dharmasthala.

The tank was allotted to the Museum by the Ministry of Defence and issued from the Central AFV Depot, Pune. Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari and Rajya Sabha Member Dr. D Veerendra Heggade inspected the tank on its arrival on Tuesday morning.

The Soviet-made T-55 tanks were Inducted into the Indian army in 1968 and extensively used in the 1971 Indo-Pak war (Bangladesh liberation war). They served the country for around 40 years before decommissioning in 2011.
The tanks were one of the most robust and sturdy battle tanks designed by the Soviets in the post-Second World War period.

Manjusha Museum is one of the main attractions in the temple town of Dharmasthala. During their visit to Dharmasthala, people make it a point to visit this museum which houses over 8,000 unique artifacts right from Ammonites fossils, and stone age tools to wooden carvings, musical instruments, and cameras.

Over one lakh people visit the Museum. In addition, as per the records, over 50 thousand students visit the museum from various parts of the state. The materials here prove to be a good resource material for the students.
The collection of artifacts here have been personally collected by Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade over the last fifty years because of his love for cultural heritage.

The museum, which had now grown into a massive collection, started in a small room out of the keen interest of Heggade when he took charge of the temple at the young age of 20.

About 50 years ago, when Dr. Heggade took charge as the chief of the temple administration, he noticed old materials and artifacts in his house and gave them a good display. This was the starting point of the Museum.

During his visit to Salarjung Museum at Hyderabad in 1969, he observed that the objects displayed there belong not only to the period before Salarjung but also had contemporary things like medals, presents, and gifts. This seems to have influenced Dr. Heggade in establishing an exclusive museum at Dharmasthala on the same lines.

The Museum was renovated and given a new look in 2018.