World Bulletin / News Desk

An exhibition of rare Quranic manuscripts, elegant calligraphic works and art masterpieces is drawing hordes of people here and behind all of it is a Hindu family.

Suresh Abrol, the man who has painstakingly preserved these valuable manuscripts, says these are part of his grandfather Lala Rekhi Ram Abrol's collections.

He was a jeweller in the court of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler, and collected many of these items. My father sought only one thing in inheritance -- these ancient manuscripts and other collections. We consider them our real inheritance, he says.

The exhibition, "Shireen Qalam", has been organized by the J-K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in association with the Department of Tourism and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage at the Tourist Reception Centre building here.

A Quran dated 961 AH (roughly 1553), which is handwritten on Samarqandi paper, and a Persian translation of the Quran by Mir Saeed Andrabi in 1850 are also on display.

Jammu and Kashmir Minister of Culture Naeem Akhtar inaugurated the exhibition on Thursday. It will be open for public till June 11.