The Tribal Museum
A museum is a building used for the storing, preservation, and exhibition of objects considered to be of lasting value or interest, as objects illustrative of antiquities, natural history, fine and industrial art etc (O.E.D.). A tribal museum is obviously a museum with a difference. It takes care of articles/artefacts that are representative of tribal art and culture. It speaks of a civilization that is very ancient, a culture that is primordial. Our country does not have many tribal museums. And our state perhaps has the only tribal museum which is located in the campus of Vidyasagar University.
The museum conserves and showcases various articles ranging from ornaments to musical instruments, from agricultural implements to clothes which all stand for an indigenous culture. All the items have distinct tribal names. Thus, in the exhibition hall displaying agricultural implements, we see ‘Nahel’, the plough used by the Kherwardian people, with its ‘Ishi’, ‘Patkhil’, ‘Kanba’, ‘Pawnra’, ‘Phal’ etc. In the section displaying clothes we see the tribal ‘Lugri’ which is made out of ‘Sutam’. This ‘Sutam’ is available from the plant ‘Kaskom’ the name of which is found in ancient Sanskrit literature. The museum has a wonderful collection of ornaments including ‘Hanshli’, ‘Tora’, ‘Banki’, ‘Baju’, ‘Dimbra’ etc which are used by the people of different tribal communities. The visitor to the museum will also see the household items like ‘Jonok’, ‘Hatak’, ‘Theka’, ‘Chala’ etc; cooking utensils like ‘Chelang’, ‘Tukuj’, ‘Karahi’ etc; and instruments like ‘Ruka’, ‘Renda’, ‘Korat’, ‘Tanga’ etc which all speak volumes about the day-to-day existence of the tribal people. These articles have largely been collected from the tribal-dominated villages in Orissa, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
The special attraction of the museum is the rare collection of tribal patachitra. These paintings reflect the distinctive lifestyle and worldview of the Adivasi communities. These paintings co-exist with the Kalighat patachitra. We have thus a space for heterogeneous cultures in the museum.
The tribal museum is an integral part of the Centre for Adivasi Studies which is slowly but steadily taking its shape. The museum is now set to emerge as a dream destination of the students/researchers studying at the centre. But it serves the society at large as its doors are now opened in the interests of the general public.
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