Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum- A walk through history

Situated in the "peth" area, Kelkar museum is a red coloured building from outside guarded by tall deodar trees. The whole of Kelkar museum is divided into two wings, A and B.

The state-run museum has an entry fee of Rs. 50 for adult Indian citizens. I paid an additional Rs. 100 for mobile photography. Still-photography pass is for Rs. 250 and videography are allowed for Rs. 500. The detailed charges and information are available on the website of Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum; http://rajakelkarmuseum.org/

After a long wait, I finally found some time to explore this magnificent history collection. My friend had suggested it'll take a whole day to see this three storied treasure of history. But, I reached there in the afternoon and decided to spend the rest of the day. And it was worth the time.

Entrance Hall and Ground floor

I was welcomed by ancient mercenaries and pretty ladies carved on marbles, stones, and wood. I found one old friend and we immediately hit it off with a thump bump, just like older times ;)

Hey, don't get me wrong, he is pretty serious dude otherwise!

In the entrance hall, there was a huge lamp that I have seen all around my hometown. So, I eagerly checked for the label and went like "Whaatt?!". It read the lamp is in fact from Thrissur, my native place. I felt a bit proud for two reasons.

One, the welcoming lamp in a renowned history museum is from my place. Two, I felt like I could recognize a piece of artwork of the past. There were other interesting works in the wood too.

Walking around, I already got the feeling that I am going to get amused throughout my time here. Also, there is an escalator available for the whole building.

Entering into the ground floor collection, it is a collection of beauty accessories used in ancient times. They were so beautiful that I don't know how to appreciate the craftsmanship in the smallest of the mundane items.

Just look at the handle of these combs and the quality of the wood. They were so perfect with every detail. Browsing through more of the beauty accessories it was clear that "beauty" was a serious business in those times. The amount of craftsmanship put into each of these products is huge with a very keen on every detail.

The ground floor continues with the display of household items of the old era. They were from different parts of the world. This floor has a collection of interesting items from the past.

One section had utensils made of different materials and from different parts of the world.

Apart from utensils, there are many small pieces of machinery that were used for household purposes. It is interesting to see that there were metal-based blades for cutting raw mangoes. To make them more interesting, they were so artfully designed.

Amidst of all these utensils in stands a big old carriage. The image of this carriage is seen as a symbol of Kelkar museum in the digital space. Everything looked so beautiful and perfect making me wonder how perfect life was in those times. After all, you need a peaceful mind to make such artistic pieces.

The third floor

The routine followed here is to go to the third floor to see the special exhibition and return to the second floor for easy movement to the B wing from Wing A.

The third floor exhibits a variety of things starting with swords, guns, and accessories. I was wonderstruck with the length of those barrels. The longest one was kept diagonally to accommodate inside the glass frame.

There were chest covers made of different materials. It was strange to see vests made of fish gills, one that looks like tortoiseshell and many more.

The second floor

Coming one floor down was the hall for textiles. It displayed different fashion styles, different cloth materials and patterns of the old times. An interesting fact is most of those patterns are still in demand. This hall also displayed many decorative structures made out of small beads.

Wing B

This collection houses a wide category of lamps and accessories associated with it. Starting from smallholders used to pour oils for worship to large lamps used in ships house in this floor.

Looking through these pieces gave me a sense of perfection as every little part of it is designed, etched or carved with many details. Going through the hanging lamps, this particular one with a lady gymnast on it amazed me.

I believe these kinds of hanging lamps are mostly used at Hindu worship places.

Other than the traditional lamps, the chimney type lamps used in ships and other lamp shades with mugal designs also have a place in this section.

In the middle, the hookah man in orange dress also caught my eye, he was having a nice time there ;)

Then there was a section dedicated to betel leaf boxes and nut-crackers. These were different for cutting different types of fruits and nuts. And can you imagine they had nut openers with erotic handles?! I think the old society were much more open about the things we consider taboo today. They also used animal figures to prove their artistic skills.

The first floor of Wing B

From there, I entered into the 1st floor where musical instruments are well furnished. Kelkar museum has this section dedicated to music where you can go through the instrument with a piece of background music. The background music from the movie "Manichithrathazhu" (Bhoolbulaya) was playing in my mind as I was checking out this beautiful collection.

Indian musical instruments made out of wood looked spectacular. Yup, it was not just an instrument on which they created music but the instrument itself was a beautiful art piece. This floor is decorated with many such instruments.

Mastani Mahal

Moving from the music instrument floor, next floor is the Mastani Mahal. A hall dedicated to the royal personality "Mastani" who recently got known to people (such as me) through the movie "Bajirao Mastani".

This hall is arranged with an old palace like interiors. Neatly tied up orange curtains, huge mirror, beds, and paintings give this place an elegant vibe. What caught my attention is the view through the windows just before entering mastani mahal. Looking through this window gives a sense of how princesses might have peeped to stalk in those times. (weird sense of my imagination, I know :D )

The ivory collection

The last and final floor is the gallery of ivory. This floor has a beautiful collection of materials made of ivory. I really liked the craft work at the same time felt really bad for the elephants. Among the ivory structures, the most beautiful one is the chessboard in pink and green color. There were dices made in ivory that are so cute to play. They even had a door made of ivory :O

Before the exit door, different types of doors were exhibited. Among them was the door with many faces. Does that ring a bell GOT fans?!! Yup, I found the door. Maybe R R Martin got some inspiration from these old artworks. Other doors made from wood and ivory with small detailed designs that are so rich and still stay strong.

At the exit door, the wooden elephant bid goodbye with a selfie. There was a souvenir shop before the last door. Out of that door was the busy road that still reminds of the old Pune. And for me, one more place from my bucket list was checked out.

---

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://elsaenroute.com/raja-dinkar-kelkar-museum-a-walk-through-history-2/

---