Delhi's Madame Tussauds museum shuts shop, company hunts for another location

Merlin Entertainments is now looking for another cleaner, less congested location to in Delhi NCR to open Madame Tussauds wax museum.

Moneycontrol News

December 30, 2020 / 11:34 IST

Source: Facebook/Madame Tussauds Delhi

The Delhi arm of the iconic Madame Tussauds will remain closed permanently as UK-based company Merlin Entertainments, which operates it has decided to shut shop. The wax statue museum, located at Connaught Place in Delhi, was "temporarily closed" in March when the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

"Merlin Entertainments can confirm it will permanently close Madame Tussauds Delhi in Connaught Place," said Anshul Jain, general manager and director, Merlin Entertainments India.

The company is now looking for another cleaner, less congested location to in Delhi NCR to open the museum.

Speaking to IANS, Jain said, "We are looking for a second location in Delhi NCR for Madame Tussauds." Asked if the company will consider places other than Delhi-NCR, Jain said, "Yes, but it must be within India."

"Madame Tussauds has been closed since March 2020. It is a very popular brand in India and we looking for alternative venues to relocate it. At present, the site at Connaught Place has been closed. The wax statues have been carefully kept at another location in the national capital region itself," Jain added.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show