That culture is a big draw for tourists should be a no brainer. And the recent success of an exhibition in the British Museum in London illustrates this point very evocatively. According to newspaper reports there, the British Museum has pulled in more than 6 million — yes, 60 lakh — visitors in the past year , thanks largely to its spectacular exhibition The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army. And already tickets are selling briskly for it’s next special exhibition — on the Roman emperor Hadrian, called Empire and Conflict, which opens as thwe tourist season peaks this July.

To underline the idea of museum shows being a definite tourist magnet, data is also out that London’s Millennium Dome — now called O2 — has also drawn over 1 million or 10 lakh visitors to Tutankhamun And the Golden Age Of The Pharaohs, that runs until August 30. And more than 35% of the tickets have been booked online from abroad! Who says people won’t travel far to see a marvel these days?

The China show at the British Museum, though, boggles the mind. Not only has it ellicited a 1.2 million jump in footfalls over the last year, making it Britain’s most seen attraction, some 30,000 replicas of the terracotta warriors have been sold and some 68,000 First Emperor giftbooks!

Yet, can you recall any such blockbuster exhibition in any of the museums in India? Much less one that has actually resulted in a spurt in tourist footfalls? The only one that comes to mind is the exhibition of the Nizam of Hyderabad’s dazzling crown jewels, which were displayed twice at the National Museum in Delhi. It drew large corwds but the unimaginative display and lack of both adequate information and mementos ensured that it will not dwell long in public memory.

Yet without a doubt, this collection of diamond jewellery is, carat for carat, the most spectacular in the world. India could have dined out on this wealth of beauty and heritage for many years. The jewels had also been on show at the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, but it’s obvious that no one cared to fully exploit the dramatic potential of the collection. At a time when India is wowing the world with its newfound wealth and prosperity, an international showing of this collection would have gone a long way in convincing many that this richness is no flash in the pan — that it has been part of India’s long legacy....

Contrast that with two other shows. If the Chinese warriors and Egyptian remnants in London bespeak the enduring popularity of ancient cultures among the citizens of modern societies, there are two more shows that are worth mentioning here as Indians tourists fan out across the world, with a significant amount of their budget set aside not only for shopping and sightseeing but also museums and shows.

The first is an exhibition of rare Afghan artifacts uncovered along the ancient Silk Road that linked Asia to Europe. Many of the most important pieces were thought to be irretrievably lost thanks to the long years of turmoil and anti-art findamentalist domination.