The Rs590 million project will be approved at a federal cabinet meeting, which will be held in the last week of October.
President General Pervez Musharraf will preside over the meeting, the sources said.
The idea was conceived by Gen Musharraf at a meeting held in July last with inputs from the culture ministry and Lok Virsa. Originally, the proposal was to construct the museum along the monument. Finally, it was decided to build the monument, which would cost Rs50 million.
The objective of establishing the museum is to reflect living traditions and regional ethnological heritage. The proposal is currently lying with the Planning Commission of Pakistan.
In principle, the proposal has been approved. The proposed monument is to be built close to the Shakkarparian Hill Complex. The idea behind the move is to highlight the fact that ethnology and folklore have great socio-cultural importance. This approach is of great significance in view of enhancing awareness about popular traditions, heritage, roots, history and identity.
Lok Virsa believes that existing museums in the country portray antiquity, as these have been established by the British. It stresses that Pakistan is a living culture of great diversity, embodying vibrance and richness of races, rituals, regions, ethnic tribes, habitat, popular traditions, folklore, music, and arts and crafts.
The view held by the Lok Virsa is aimed at establishing a museum that portrays the living heritage in all its shades. Such an approach will strengthen the federation by enhancing national pride and harmony.
The proposed museum will also project the craftsmanship as well as the lifestyle of the indigenous population. This objective will be achieved in a modern setting, at par with international standards, to make the museum stimulating, informative and pleasant for visitors of all age groups.
The proposed Diorama Ethnological Museum of Pakistan will reflect, in all, 36 sub-regional areas. The major displays will comprise three diorama displays of areas like Thal, Cholistan and Tharparkar; the mountain areas like Hunza, Chitral, Mal Kohistan, Swat; coastal areas like Makran, Balochistan and Manchar, and Potohar plateau.
An ethnological display like Kalash will be a permanent feature. The museum will have artifacts, exhibits, photographs and descriptive text related to particular lifestyles, supplemented by mannequins.
According to the sources, the museum will also feature artisan workshops displays, showing tools, raw materials and semi-finished artifacts. It will also reflect traditional methods used to create some of the artifacts on display in the museum.
The museum, the sources said, would be equipped with necessary audio/video aids. Only 11 museums in the world, like Osaka Museum in Japan and Museum of Man in the UK, are equipped with audio-video aids. This facility is considered to be an important segment of ethnological museums.
The existing building complex comprises twelve galleries. Located near the Natural History Museum and adjacent to the proposed Pak-Japan centre, the ethnological museum would be an integral part of cultural activities and displays.