When Amitabh Bachchan donated to save Zoroastrian culture

A museum run by the Bombay Parsi Panchayat, dedicated to Zoroastrian culture, has been raising funds for its restoration and it is doing so with a unique crowd-funding campaign.

The Alpaiwalla museum in South Mumbai has raised funds to the tune of Rs 6 lakh till now, which also includes a donation by actor Amitabh Bachchan, says art historian Firoza Mistree who heads the museum’s operations along with Pheroza Godrej.

One of the first pieces to be restored with the funds was a 19th century Japanese umbrella stand, which was brought during the Chinese opium trade, said Zara Heeramaneck, who spearheaded the restoration project.

The museum is likely to open to the public this year, Mistree told ETPanache. The museum has portraits, textiles, porcelain, furniture, and manuscripts dating back to 2000 BC. And if that’s not reason enough to visit, the museum’s centrepiece will be a walk-in replica of a fire temple, which has been funded by billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla.

Published on Economic Times