Kochi: If things go as per plan, the Hill Palace archeological museum will soon have a Light and Sound show on ancient Kochi Kingdom.
The ‘Light and Sound Show’ project, originally planned during the previous UDF regime in 2014 when K.C. Joseph was the culture minister, is being revived with the government set to allot funds for the project.
“Minister for archeology Kadanapally Ramachan-dran has promised to take necessary steps to realise the project this year itself. The plan is to set up a giant wall screen near the Palace building. The show will feature origin of ‘Perump-adappu Swaroopam’ in the 12th century and the journey till 1947 when Cochin became the first princely state to join the Indian Union willingly,” sources said.
Though an Expression of Interest was floated back in 2016, the project was put in the backburner after no reputed parties bid for it.
“We’re planning ‘Light and Sound’ shows on Kochi and Malabar kingdoms at Hill Palace Museum and Kannur Fort respectively on the lines of that in Golconda Fort in Hyderabad. We’ve already received the proposals from respective local authorities on how to run the show,” they said.
As per the plan, two shows permitting nearly 200 persons will be held at Hill Palace from 7 pm. However, there are several hurdles for realisation of the project.
“The primary concern is about security. Currently visitors are allowed inside Hill Palace only till 6 pm. The collection includes many priceless artifacts. We’ve started taking measures to heighten security,” they said.
An additional 35 mini-mast lights were set up in the museum premise recently. There are plans to set up more CCTV cameras so as to cover majority of the museum area, extending to 52 acres.
