George Orwell's colonial Indian bungalow being restored to house a museum

Heritage conservationists in India have started to restore the dilapidated colonial bungalow in which George Orwell was born, as the government of Bihar state announced plans to convert it into a museum dedicated to him.

Besides the three-room house in which the author was born on June 25, 1903, the property in the small town of Motihari consists of a few tiny cottages and a large warehouse used to store opium. Orwell's father, Richard Blair, worked in the remote town near the Indian-Nepalese border for the opium department, supervising poppy growers and collecting opium for export to China.

Many of the buildings are in ruins, but the bungalow and a nearby cottage still stand, and are being restored along with the warehouse.

Despite Orwell's influence on popular culture, there is no museum celebrating his contribution to literature and journalism, said his son, Richard Blair.

"I am delighted my father's old house is now under restoration and will be turned into a museum, a museum which will be the only one in the world," he said. "For many decades the house was allowed to decay, so it's only to be applauded that the Bihar government now sees fit to put money into the project."

The George Orwell Archive at University College London has the world's largest collection of material on the writer's life and work, including manuscripts, letters, diaries, books, photographs and audio recordings. Blair is a member of the archive committee, and plans to raise the issue of supporting the museum through the creation of replica material or the loan of original items.