Kolkata's first wax museum, modelled on London's famous Madame Tussauds, has been thrown open today. As many as 19 life-size wax statues will dot the museum, christened 'Mother's Wax Museum' after Mother Teresa. The wax exhibit includes people ranging from historical personalities to luminaries of Indian cinema.

Located at the Finance Centre in New Town, it is spread over an area of 5,000 square feet. Veteran wax sculptor Susanta Ray, who has a smaller wax museum in Asansol in Burdwan district of West Bengal, has crafted the 19 statues. "Initially, 19 statues have been placed and as the demand increases more will come up," said Ray. Ray's collection at Mother’s Wax Museum includes wax replicas of President Pranab Mukherjee and bollywood veterans Amitabh Bachchan and West Bengal’s brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan.

Among the other was statues are those of Mahatama Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Kishore Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Manna Dey, Sourav Ganguly and Mithun Chakraborty.

The project, which has been implemented by the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), has been inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the opening ceremony of the 20th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF).

With models of historical personalities as well as stars from around India adorning the museum, photographing themselves with their favourites is now within the reach of both tourists as well as the citizens of Kolkata.

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