India snaps up Primrose Hill home to be turned into museum

The sale of a £3million townhouse to an Indian state which hopes to turn it into a global shrine for one of its country’s most revered revolutionaries is to go ahead, it was confirmed this week.

The house where Dr Ambedkar lived will be turned into a museum. Picture: Polly Hancock - Credit: Archant

In June, the Ham&High reported plans by the government of the west Indian state of Maharashtra was hoping to buy the former home of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in Primrose Hill.

Dr Ambedkar, who died in 1956, lived in the terrace house at number 10 King Henry’s Road while a student at the London School of Economics in 1921 and 1922.

A blue plaque currently adorns the facade of the home, describing him as an “Indian crusader for social justice”, and he is credited with being the architect of the Indian Constitution.

Negotiations had been ongoing for the sale but the UK-based Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations (FABO) confirmed this week contracts had now been exchanged.

The plaque outside the house dedicated to Dr Ambedkar. Picture: Polly Hancock - Credit: Archant

A FABO spokesman said: “We will have to undertake many repairs to the property before it is turned into a museum but it’s great news for us.”