Minister for art and culture, Dayanand Mandrekar told the State Assembly on Tuesday that the Contemporary Art Museum currently being designed in the Adil Shah Palace, (old Secretariat building) in Panaji, is complete and may be opened to the public in August of 2017.
The minister also mentioned that as suggested by the Leader of Opposition Pratapsingh Rane, advice from senior Goan artist Laxman Pai will be sought in further development of the Contemporary Art museum.
The old ‘Secretariat’ as it is known, is Panaji´s oldest surviving building, originally built by the Muslim ruler Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur around 1500.It was actually Adil Shah´s summer palace cum fortress and formed an important part of his defense with an arsenal of 55 canons and a salt water moat.
