For years, the collection was a semi-private archive housed in a climate-controlled warehouse on the outskirts of Bhopal. However, in 2021, Anujsingh launched the "Visible Heritage" project . Partnering with a team of 3D scanning specialists, he began creating high-resolution digital twins of the artifacts. As of 2025, over 2,000 items are viewable online in a searchable open-access database.
This has been a game-changer. A student in London can now examine the tool marks on a 17th-century blacksmith’s die, while a textile designer in Chennai can download vector patterns from a 200-year-old woodblock. anujsingh collection
The collection is not without controversy. Some mainstream museologists argue that important cultural objects should reside in government institutions, not private hands. Anujsingh counters that state museums in India are often underfunded, understaffed, and filled with poorly labeled items gathering dust. "My warehouse has a lower humidity variance than the National Museum’s textile wing," he noted in a 2023 interview. "Preservation isn’t about who owns it; it’s about who cares for it." For years, the collection was a semi-private archive
Unlike conventional museums that prioritize "priceless" royal artifacts, The Anujsingh Collection focuses on the vernacular . Its mandate is simple: preserve the objects that defined daily life in pre-industrial India. The collection currently holds over 8,000 cataloged items, ranging from the 16th century to the mid-20th century. As of 2025, over 2,000 items are viewable
Others worry about the ethics of removing objects from their village contexts. Anujsingh’s defense is economic: he pays fair market value, and in several documented cases, the sale of a single family heirloom funded a child’s entire school education.