Gujarat Patel Group
Historical Place Kachchh Museum ( Guajrat )
Kachchh Museum
Location
:
Bhuj, Gujarat
Established
In
:
1877 AD.
Significance
:
Oldest Museum Of Gujarat.
Established By
:
Maharao Khangarji.
The Kutch Museum at Bhuj initially formed part of the School of
Art established by Maharao Khengarji on 1st July, 1877. It is the oldest
museum of Gujarat. At the time of Maharao Khengarji's marriage, an
exhibition of 5897 items were exhibited and items worth Rs. 3300 were
given to the Museum which necessitated the construction of a new
building.
Accordingly, on 14th November, 1884, the foundation stone for the
present museum building was laid. The building consisting of 2 floors
cost Rs. 32000. The museum is situated almost on the banks of the
beautiful Hamirsar lake and just opposite the Nazar Baugh garden.
On the ground floor in the central room is displayed Airavat, an
Indian elephant. In 1978 the Govt. of India issued a postal stamp
showing Airavat. The museum has the largest collections of Kshatrap
inscriptions. It also has a fine collection of Kutch silver, golden and
enamelling work, textiles, wood work, coins, old utensils, arms and
other archeological objects and a section on the communications of the
district
The Construction
At the time of Rao Khengarji's marriage in February 1884, an
exhibition of arts and crafts of Kachchh was organized in which 5,897
items were exhibited. Of these exhibits, items then worth Rs 3300 were
given to the museum at the termination of exhibition. These exhibits
necessitated the construction of a new building.
To accommodate the additions to the already existing collection of
artifacts, it was decided to build a new building. On November 14, 1884
the foundation stone for the present museum building was laid by the
then Governor of Bombay, Sir James Fergusson. The two-storeyed building
was designed by the state engineer, Mc Lelland and was constructed at a
cost of Rs 32,000.
The Maharao named the Museum after Sir Fergusson. Till independence,
the Museum remained a preserve of the Maharao who showed it only to his
personal guests. The Museum was open to the public only on important
religious occasions.
After independence, the Museum was thrown open to the public and through usage came to be known as the Kachchh Museum.
Artifacts on Display
:
Airavat
On the ground floor in the central room is displayed Airavat a seven
trunked snow white elephant of Indra. Each of the trunks is crowned by a
temple. This 18th century wooden masterpiece from Mandvi shows Indra
going to worship Tirthankar.
The body of the elephant is painted in the local kamagiri style with
flowers and creepers. Govt. of India issued a postal stamp showing this
Airavat to commemorate the Museum centenary in 1978.
Inscriptions
The section on inscriptions has a dozen inscriptions. Most of them are 'Kshatrapa' inscriptions. The oldest 'Kshatrapa' inscription is dated 'Saka' eleven (89 AD). Found at Andhau, this is the most important 'Saka'
inscription. It mentions the name of the founder of the Saka dynasty,
Chastan. Since its year of erection is closest to the beginning of the
era, it also suggests that the founder of Saka era could be Chastan.
Moreover it takes back the Kshatrapa rule by 40 years, as earlier it was
believed that their rule started from Saka 52 based on inscriptions
found earlier.
Yet another inscription is of Adbir ruler Ishwardev (332 AD). This
is the only Abhir inscription of Gujarat. According to late Dr. V.V.
Mirashi, this inscription is of Saka year Six (84 AD).
Archaelogy
The
archaeological section has two Indus seals; one from Khirsara and a
square one showing a unicorn from the famed Indus site of Dholavira.
There are also other finds such as cylindrical beads, bangles made from
conch shells and perforated pottery found from various sites in Kachchh.
The two seals from Kateshwar cave depicting Lord Buddha in Bhumi
Sparsha Mudra are fascinating. Such seals were found in large numbers
from Kateshwar, which means that Buddhism prevailed in Kachchh at least
till the 9th century AD, the date of these seals.
There are various types of stone tablets. The oldest is dated 1332
V.S. of Waghela ruler, Sarangdev. Another interesting tablet of land
grant shows the figures of a cow and boar which was meant to inhibit
encroachment by either a Hindu or a Muslim as the killing of these
animals is a taboo in their respective religions. The encroachment would
tantamount to eating beef or pork as suggested by these figures.
There are three tombstones of the Jews collected from a now extinct
Jewish cemetery. The epitaphs on these stones are written in three
languages - Herbrew, English and Marathi, these being respective
languages of the region.
Paintings
Paintings showing the
different vocations of Kachchh drawn a hundred years ago are on display.
A 60ft long scroll showing Muhurram procession and another 51ft. long
scroll showing Nag Pancham Swari are also noteworthy. Both these
festivals were representative of the secular traditions of Kachchh.
The paintings on the wooden doors of a Jain temple of Mandvi show
the chowkidars painted in Kamagiri style of painting. In a room on the
first floor are on display ornaments of gold and silver done during the
late 19th and early 20th century in Bhuj. The gold crown of lord Vishnu
acquired from Narayan Sarovar is indeed a very fine creation studded
with semi precious stones.
Currency
Kachchh state had its own
currency. A small section shows gold silver and copper coins of various
denominations. The section has a ten 'Kori' as also some 'Kori'
currency notes, which never became legal tender due to some obscure
reason. One can see mint machinery as also coins from almost every
country of the world.
Shipping Section
The shipping section
shows the models of ships made in Mandvi. The section also has sexton
and other equipments used by sailors as also permission documents to
anchor at any port of the world. A map shows how the earliest sailors
went out.
Musical Instruments
The section on musical instruments shows classical instruments like the 'veena', 'dilruba' as also a few folk musical instruments like the 'kani', 'nagfani', 'Morchang' etc.
For the Battlefield
The
arms and ammunition section displays swords, shields, spears, guptis,
daggers, pistols and bayonets. A cannon made in 1790s, with an Arabic
inscription is a gift of Tipu Sultan to the army chief Jamadar Fateh
Mohmad.
Stamps
The
section on Philately shows postal and court fee stamps of the native
states as also of the post independent India arranged thematically. A
board displays the stamps showing world personalities issued by various
countries as also airmail labels used by them.
The Centenary Building
The Centenary building added in 1978 has a section on natural
history. Lion, tiger, deer are all shown here for the benefit of the
children. The fossilized conch shells and wood fossils found from
various parts of Kachchh are also on display. But the main attractions
of this section are a model of wild ass and flamingo as these are a
peculiarity of this region. Other birds and mammals are also displayed.
The crocodiles caught from Hamirsar Tank are displayed as also the first
ever caught python and pangolin from Kachchh
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Published
By :-
Gayatri Solution Group
{ Jayesh
Patel }
(Live In
:- Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Kalol, Mehsana, Visnagar,
Unjha, Sidhpur, Chanasma, Patan,
Palanpur,)
In the centre of old Jamnagar, on an island in the middle of the lake, are two superb old structures: the
Lakhota Fort and the Kotha Bastion.
Kanthkot,
100 kms from Bhuj, is an old fort on the peak of an lonely rocky hill
about five km in circumference in Bhachau Taluka. It has walls built of
massive blocks repaired in many places by smaller stones.
It is said to have been the capital of the Kathis in the eighth century,
and to have been taken from them by the Chavdas.
Fort
of Diu was built over six years from 1535 A.D., following a defence
alliance between Bahadur Shah, Sultan of Gujarat, and the Portuguese,
when Humayun, the Mughal Emperor, attacked the former. The bottomless
canals flanking the fort, the giant watch tower (now converted into a
lighthouse), the gaol, the cannons, the vestiges of foregone battles
(like mounds of iron shells from enemy cannons), the stone galleries,
gigantic windows and the granite expanse will take you back to another
bold era. The mist that shrouds the fort throughout the year compl
Location
hall
can be found rare works of literature. In other sections are
interesting artifacts such as leather embroidery, woodwork,
woodcarvings, terra cotta, wall paintings, beadwork, stone carvings,
musical instruments, knives and swords and silver work.
Inside one of the huts, is the intricately designed "Kothala" (the
treasury). In past, ornaments money, and other valuables of the royalty
were kept in the "Kothala".
Location