28

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya

(National Museum of Mankind)
A Museum with a Difference
Kishor K. Basa and G. Jayaprakasan
Concepts of Museum: A Historical Outline
A new museum movement began to evolve, world over, in the seventies of the
20
th
century, to re-assure that museums are entities of life and culture of the
common masses. Until then, these institutions were regarded, by and large, as
curio-centres of distinct values, presenting the efforts of an elite, or addressing
their issues and interests.
Although the British Museum was set up in 1753, museum histories routinely
trace the origins of the modern museum back to 1793 in Revolutionary France,
when the National Convention formally declared that the holdings in the Cabinet
du Roi and the Cabinet dHistoire Naturelie were no longer the property of the King
but belonged to the entire French nation. The name chosen for these and other
new public collections of rare objects was Museum. The word museum was derived
from a unique vocabulary of architectural design used in the construction of the
Hellenistic Musaeum of Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. (Lee, 1997). The
celebrated Musaeum was considered to be the seat of divine Greek Musus
(goddesses) with whom noble events of folk art, music, poetry, gaiety etc. were
associated. Musaeum was handled by a group of literary and scientific scholars
and supported by the Ptolemies. The reputation of the Musaeum as a venue of
knowledge and learning spread through the centuries and became a common
subject of interest to French scholars during the 18
th
century. Eventually, the
Latin term musaeum was used in early modern France to describe the newly
formed institution museum.
In a way, museums were a product of the Renaissance, a product of an
aristocratic and hierarchical society which believed that art and scholarship were
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 277
for a closed circle. In Europe and in most colonial territories, museums and art
galleries began at a time when the people who controlled them had a contempt
for the masses (Hudson 1977: 7). Many of the museums developed in the western
world in the 18
th
century had inherited this outlook, and remained as such for a
long. The ethnological museums invented by European colonizers in the 19
th
century, in course of their expeditions to the rest of the world, had presented
their collection of objects as either curio-items, or as proof of emphasis that the
culture of colonized communities were inferior or peripheral to the technological
achievements of Europe.
The seventies of 20th century was a decade of crucial developments in the
history of museums and museology all over the world. This was the period when
independent countries, including India, began to settle down. New nationalism
and cultural identities began to emerge among the liberated countries. In the
newly independent countries, the role of museums began to firm-up during this
period as important cultural centers for asserting national and regional identities.
In the 1971 General Conference of the International Council of Museums
(ICOM) held in France (at Grenoble), an African delegate from Benin, made a
statement with considerable heat and vigour. Museums, he said, were not
integrated into the contemporary world and formed no real part of it. They were
elitist, and of no use whatever to the majority of people; in all countries, they
were obsolete; and they ought to disappear so that the public money could be
spent to better purpose. There were many takers of this passionate statement.
The conclusion reached at the 1971 ICOM Conference was that the social,
economic and cultural changes occurring in the world, particularly in many under-
privileged regions, constitute a challenge to museology. The future historians of
museums and museology may well decide that 1971 was the year in which it
became obvious that there would have to be fundamental changes in the philosophy
and aims of museums, and that the traditional attitudes were inadequate and
obsolete in demonstrating the contemporary relevance of museum. It was felt
that a museum should mould the consciousness of the communities it serves,
link together the past and present. However, there was no suggestions that existing
specialized museums should be closed down or abandoned, but, to meet the
social needs, it was felt that there should be a gradual change in the outlook of
curators and administrators, so that a steady progress towards integrated museum
might be ensured. Integrated museum approach meant a realization that it exists
to meet the needs of people, not merely to preserve what the French call the
patrimone, the national cultural heritage. (Hudson 1977:15).
Birth of IGRMS: Initial Ideas and Concepts
The birth of National Museum of Man in India was a sequel of these
developments. In the Calcutta session of the Indian Science Congress, held in
1970, Sachin Roy, President of the Anthropology and Archaeology Section,
278 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
emphasized the need of a Museum of Man in India, in his presidential address.
Roy was a senior museum professional from India and was also an ICOM member
of that time. He had later (in 1972) published a book titled Museum of Man in
India: Problems and Prospects and also made an appeal to the then Prime Minister
of India, to consider setting up a Museum of Man. His idea was holistic
presentation of human creativities in Museum, by adopting an inter-disciplinary
approach. It was recognized, by this time, no single discipline was capable of
understanding man through its single-lens glass. He felt that an integrated
museum approach would require co-operation between different types of
museums, research institutes and fusion of disciplines, viz. anthropological,
ecological, techno-economical, ideological, aesthetic, historical etc. Museology,
to be worthy of that name must embrace and show itself capable of absorbing all
these different ways of looking at human activity. Many social scientists in India
have supported the emerging trend of the integrated approach.
The 10th General Conference of the ICOM held at Copenhagen (Denmark)
in 1974 has recognised that museums throughout are coming to regard themselves
less and less as self-contained professional units and more as cultural centres for
communities within which they operate (Hudson 1977). It was also resolved that
the museum must interpret the cultural needs of the community completely
independent of circumstantial factors, with an understanding of the problems
of the contemporary individual. In other words, the mandates of many museums,
which hitherto functioned as store-houses of artifacts or curio centres, had begun
to change as institutions for promoting cultural aspirations of the contemporary
communities.
Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India then. Personally,
she was very enthusiastic about new approaches as and when the scientific
communities were proposing any new project. She was convinced that no linear
graphs on a progressive model could contain the dynamics of the plurality of the
cultural patterns. Neither the archaeological nor the anthropological model of
the 19
th
or early 20
th
century would suffice (Vatsyayan 2005). M.N. Srinivas, had
once (1988) remembered, while addressing a group of scholars in the IGRMS at
Bhopal, how intimately Mrs. Gandhi was interested on the IGRMS project. At
that time Srinivas said, Mrs. Gandhi was exceptionally busy. I inflicted a two-
page letter on her, and I never expected a reply. But I was surprised to receive a
reply within a few days from her. It shows how sensitive she was about this
project.
The letter was dated July 2
nd
, 1974. It read as follows:
I have received your interesting letter of June 29,1974. Your main suggestion of
having records of the many aspects of our cultural heritage is one which has been of
concern for me for years before I became Prime Minister. I had initiated some scheme
to collect costume, jewellery, folklore and I had asked the Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting as also the Chief Minister to make films of folk dances and other
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 279
rituals. As you perhaps know, I started a folk dance festival in the same spirit.
Unfortunately, none of these had been followed up as vigorously as they should
have been. Consequently, we have already lost a good deal. The suggestions you have
made on the last page are good ones. I think, it should be persuaded. The only
difficulty is that this year is one of the great financial stringency when every
programme is being cut to the very bone. However, the setting up a committee of
knowledgeable people will not need immediate finance, and can be considered. These
are my first thoughts. I shall write to you later on this.
(Mrs. Indira Gandhi)
July 2, 1974
On the advice of the Prime Minister, the Department of Culture, Government
of India, had asked the Anthropological Survey of India (An. S.I) to work on the
project since 1975 onwards and a nucleus Office was started from New Delhi in
March, 1977 for the project. During the same period a preliminary Plan Outline
of the proposed new Museum was published, after a series of meetings by experts.
The Plan-Outline was critical of the biasness of the existing conventional museums
in India. It said that the existing art and archaeological museums in the country
highlighted artistic traditions of India, and didnt tell the story of evolution of
Indian civilization and about the varieties of cultural life in contemporary India.
The other types of museums dealing with natural history, science and industry
convey basic principles of their subjects, but tell very little of the man who has
created and developed civilizations. Therefore, the idea behind the Museum of
Man, would be to present an integrated vision of human life, not segmented
pictures determined by artificial disciplinary boundaries.
After a series of searches and deliberations at various levels, it was decided,
in 1978, to set up the National Museum of Man (NMM) at Bhopal, the central
province of India. A site of about 200 acres offered by the State government of
Madhya Pradesh, at the Shamla hills, overlooking the main Bhopal lake, was
accepted and some portion of the site was occupied by early 1979. The Foundation
Stone of the new Museum was laid on 21
st
April, 1979, by the then Union Minister,
Dr. P.C. Chunder. By March 1985, the organization was renamed as Rashtriya
Manav Sangrahalaya (RMS). Again in 1993, it was re-christened as Indira Gandhi
Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), considering the seminal contributions
and involvement of the late Prime Minister in developing the Museum.
The museum-site at Shamla hills, is a very important geographical territory.
It is one of the chains of 31 hills in the Vindhyan range, infested with a large
number rock caves with evidence of pre-historic human settlements. The site
was once on a 30 mile long stretch of water, created by joining the streams of
river Kaliasot and Betwa, a water body which was drained in 30 years, after the
11
th
century dam constructed for creating it, was cut, in course of one of the war-
like engagements in the 16
th
century. Today Shamla hills is an oasis of heritage
related action and research initiatives. About a dozen cultural centres have come
280 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
up after the IGRMS began establishing. These include the renowned Bharat Bhawan
Multi-art complex, All India Radio and Doordarshan, the State Museum of Madhya
Pradesh, a Tribal Museum, Regional Museum of the National Council of Science
Museum and a large number of other educational institutions managed by several
NGOs.
Museum Infrastructure
Development of infrastructure for the new Museum was a major challenge. It
required heavy financial investments and manpower, dedicated scholars and
visionaries who could interpret the cultural bonds of the country. An Advisory
Committee set up in 1981, recommended that the Institution should be converted
into an Autonomous Body, to be managed by a group of subject experts from
different disciplines and representative officials of different ministerial
organizations. The recommendations were accepted by the Cabinet Secretariat
of Government of India and the Autonomous Society named Rashtriya Manav
Sangrahalaya Samiti was registered under Registration of Societies Act, 1860, in
March, 1985, with the following major objectives to:
(a) Present, through exhibitions and educational programmes, an integrated
story of bio-cultural evolution of man with special reference to India,
highlighting the richness and diversity of its cultural patterns and the
underlying unity;
(b) Promote national integration;
(c) Take steps to salvage and preserve the fast vanishing aspects of Indian
culture;
(d) Act as a centre of research and training in museology of appropriate
kind and generate a new museum movement in different regions of India
to present and preserve variety of cultural life.
Individual experts from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, museology,
folk art etc. were nominated to the governing councils of the Museum for specified
durations, and representative officials of the central government in the ministries
of Culture, Home Affairs, Tribal Development, Environment, as also from the
State Government of Madhya Pradesh were inducted. The main source of funding
for infrastructure development and education activities were to come from the
central Ministry of Culture, and the Minister-in-Charge of the Ministry of Culture
designated as the President (ex-officio) of the Governing Samiti. The Secretary
to the Ministry of Culture, GOI would act as ex-officio Chairman of its Executive
Council.
When the Site was occupied for infrastructure development, the landscape
was barren, rocky and devoid of any vegetation. There was no water sources in
the campus, nor any link road to approach the public ways outside. The campus
was to be landscaped within these constraints. Development of Infrastructure
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 281
included: (a) creating roads and pathways to approach the different pockets of
the vast area of the campus spilled with rocky terrains and hillocks (b) providing
water supply and electricity to different corners, (c) landscaping the different
areas according to the conceptual need, (c) developing internal security system,
(d) constructing office buildings, guest house and dormitories for visiting scholars
and professionals, and, of course, (e) developing various open-air and indoor
exhibitions, as per the conceptual plans. It was a challenging task.
Over a the span of about 25 years since the institution was established in
Bhopal, commendable work have been done in the area of infrastructure
development, though much need to be done in coming decades. The campus was
landscaped to represent prototypes of different ecological regions of the Indian
sub-continent viz. deserts, coasts, hills, the rivers and the culture of communities
adapting these ecological regions. The depleted soil cover was partially restored,
and plants from different ecological zones were planted. Internal road and electric
networks were developed, and water source was also tapped to a limited extent.
Facilities for different working units, exhibitions, and performing art theatres
were also created. Over 20,000 cultural artifacts, and nearly one lakh books and
journals in different languages were collected. On the basis of documentation of
activities, both in the Bhopal and other parts of the country, as well as collections
from other sources, about 3000 hrs of audio-video records of different facets of
Indian cultures are there in the audio-video achieve. A Southern Regional Centre
was established by accepting the offer of a heritage building in Mysore (Karnataka)
in the year 2000.
IGRMS Exhibitions
Development of suitable exhibition spaces to display the artifact collections are
the primary goal of any museum, and the IGRMS was no exception. But, unlike
other National Museums, which were set up to house certain collections in
possession, this Museum began not with any artifact in possession, but with
certain ideas only. Therefore, the task of the museum curators were onerous; do
a collection and create appropriate environment for its display, besides the normal
job of classification and documentation. It was decided that the IGRMS would
be developed predominantly as an open-air museum, and the indoor museum
would function as extension units to various outdoor exhibitions.
The theoretical concepts of the Museum initialized at various levels, needed
to be translated into a realizable plan for setting up the exhibitions. Certain
broad themes were formulated at conceptual level. After prolonged discussions
and deliberations at various levels, it was decided to present the cohesive life
cycles of various Indian communities living in different eco-climatic zones of
the country. These include those of tribal hamlets, the coastal Indian region of
the lengthy sea coasts, Himalayan region, river valleys, desert and arid zones
etc.
282 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
Tribal Habitat was the first open air exhibition complex designed to be
developed on the south-eastern hill top of the campus. Unique dwelling types of
architectural marvels from different tribal communities were selected to represent
from the Gangetic plains of Uttaranchal, lush green forest areas of North-east
India, the arid region of western India, plateau region of central India, hilly tracts
of eastern India, the Nilgiri (blue-mountain) tracts of south western India etc.
The initial set of about ten habitats were re-erected, and the Exhibition was opened
for public in January, 1988. Presently, there are over thirty house-types, youth
dormitories, shrines and other centres of cultural interactions clustered together
in this section . These dwellings represent the Warli community of Maharashtra,
Kutia Kondh, Saora and Gadaba communities of Orissa, Rathwa and Chodhri
tribes of Gujarat, Boda Kachari, Mishing and Karbi tribes of Assam, Agaria and
Bhil communities of Madhya Pradesh, Kars and Rajwars of Chhattisgarh, Santal
tribe of Jharkhand, Jatapu tribe of Andhra Pradesh, Bhumij from West Bengal,
Tangkul and Kabui Nagas from Manipur, Chakhesang Naga of Nagaland, Reang
tribe of Tripura, Toda and Kota communities of Tamilnadu. The most striking
feature of this Exhibition is that the exhibits are life-size dwellings built by the
different tribal communities themselves, based on their traditional ground plans
and architectural patterns. The materials which are traditionally used for
construction in their respective regions, were specially transported to Bhopal for
creating the replica. Select groups of tribal artisans were invited to Bhopal to re-
construct their dwellings and create a genuine ambiance within and outside their
dwellings. To create the ambiance, the concerned tribal groups did their own
home-work by surveying their regional hamlets to understand the intriguing
patterns of structural designs, placement of house-hold objects in each locations
within and outside the house, collect the sacred plants ritualistic objects to be
planted outside the house-types. The community groups came to IGRMS
representing different categories of performers i.e. brick makers, carpentry
technicians and even priests to sanctify their house-types. They act as ambassadors
of their community groups. Once the house is re-erected, they would explain to
the Museum staff how to document the myths and legends of their community
origin, the different ritual forms, the importance of space distribution, and their
culinary traditions. They would teach the museum staff their traditional ways of
structural conservation and other feed-backs for maintenance and upkeep. In a
way they take over the role of curators of the exhibits, and the museum personnel
were trained how to explain their customs and traditions to the visitors. From
time to time they would visit the campus to oversee the arrangements in each of
their house-types. The museum staff would also visit the hamlets of these tribal
groups, document their festivities and craft traditions, to display these elements
in the house-types.
Today, Tribal Habitat is one of the important exhibition premises, spread
over in about forty acres of land, which attracts a large number of visitors to the
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 283
Museum. For researchers engaged in architecture, tribal art and religion,
conservation techniques, graphic art, as well as administrative planners the Tribal
Habitat of IGRMS is a laboratory for various practical experience.
Taking note of the success of Tribal Habitat experience, more and more
similar open-air exhibitions were created to depict the life and culture of Indian
coastal communities, the people living in desert region of western India, and also
the lengthy stretch of Himalayan region. In developing the exhibits in these
exhibitions, methodology adopted was similar to that of the Tribal Habitat
Exhibition.
Coastal Village open-air exhibition set up in about 20 acres land, represents
dwelling units and related material cultural objects from different coastal parts of
India; viz. Gujarat, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. These are
typical traditional house-types, representing lifestyles and cultural identities of
Indian coastal communities. Some eco-friendly structures exhibited in this complex
reflect the socio-economic situation of inhabitants, like the Arapura (wooden
cottage), and Palliyodam (snake-boat) from Kerala, are the main attractions for
visitors.
Desert Village open air exhibition represents typical dwelling-types from
Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. A dwelling complex of Rajputs in this exhibition highlights
the process and degree of their adaptation with environment. Various ethnographic
objects displayed inside the dwelling units depict their life-ways and subsistence
strategies.
One of the interesting and unique items in the Himalayan Village is the typical
stone building - Kothi a dwelling complex from Shimla re-erected in the campus.
The imposing entrance gate known as Parol or Paraud constructed to protect and
lend beauty to the courtyard is a reminder of the culture and ecology of the
terrain of the Himalaya region. The Choukat, another house-type from Uttaranchal
is said to be earthquake resistant variety.
The IGRMS is fortunate to have about 30 odd painted rock caves within its
campus. These have been transformed into an open-air exhibition titled Rock
Art Heritage. Perhaps IGRMS is one of the few Museums in the world which has
shelters of the Prehistoric Man in its premises with paintings drawn by the pre-
historic dwellers. These are valuable assets not only for researchers but also for
inquisitive general visitors to the IGRMS campus.
The Exhibition Mythological Trail depicts compositions as reflected in myths
and legends of various folk and tribal communities. These are crafted in different
media of terracotta, wood, stone, iron etc. Crafts of various artisan groups,
incarnations of folk deities and traditional paintings form the main attraction of
the exhibition. A 12 ft. tall iron gate with decorative carvings, representing the
origin and technology of iron-smithy (done by Lohars from Bastar), forms an
imposing structure of this exhibition.
284 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
The IGRMS has been emphasizing on collection and documentation of tradition
based technologies from different parts of the country. Based on the field experience
to different remote villages in India, a new open air exhibition titled Tradtional
Technology was developed and opened for visitors in March, 2008. This exhibition
presents the knowledge or wisdom practised by indigenous communities in the
utilization of locally available resources to fulfil their sustained way of living. Some
of the note-worthy exhibits, in this open air exhibition, are Meitei Thim Shungba
(traditional salt making technology of Manipur), Gangugu (traditional oil expelling
technology of Andhra Pradesh), Ganna Charkhi (traditional technology of sugarcane
juice extraction process practised in Chhattisgarh), Tirahi (typical oil expelling
technology), Gharat, Tui-Changshu, Edullumota (traditional water management systems
adopted in Uttaranchal, Manipur, and Andhra Pradesh respectively) etc.
Veethi Sankul-Indoor Museum was constructed in about twelve thousand
sqm. area with spacious exhibition halls, a reference library, indoor & outdoor
auditoriums and other miscellaneous facilities, and dedicated to the nation in
March, 2005. The structure is unique in its architecture, constructed on a rocky
terrain incorporating difficult levels of the sloppy land. The various exhibition
halls and auditoriums have been constructed on approximately 16 levels. The
structure is covered with Dholpur sand-stone, and the flooring is made with
Kota stones. Approximately 7000 sq.mt. floor area is utilized for exhibitions, in
10 galleries. These are named as:
Gallery 1 : Human Evolution and Variation: Presenting the landmarks of process
of human evolution in different stages through models, photographs,
charts, sketches etc. Emphasis has been put on the Narmada-man
discovered at Hathnora in Madhya Pradesh which indicates India as
one of the theatres of human bio-cultural evolution;
Gallery 2 : Human OdysseyDepicting material cultural objects on settlement
patterns, subsistence and aesthetic activities of hunter-gatherers,
shifting cultivators, pastoralists, peasants and ethno-medicine
practitioners in India;
Gallery 3 : Longo JatraA festival of the Koitor life style and festivities of Gond
tribes of Central India;
Gallery 4 : Mandwa Gohri envisages holistic presentation on the Bhil tribes of
Western India;
Gallery 5 : Ethnic Art:Presents the ethnic art of selected folk and tribal
communities from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan etc.;
Gallery 6 : Belief Systems, Cosmology and RitualsPresents ritual objects,
photographs, masks, memorial pillars, paintings etc. to narrate
cosmology, belief systems and rituals of different communities;
Gallery 7 : Music & Performing Traditionspresents music traditions of various
communities.
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 285
Gallery 8 : MasksVarieties of traditional masks collected from different parts
of India are displayed.
Gallery 9 : Textile & Culinary Traditionstraditional architecture, textile tradition,
traditional technology and culinary traditions are displayed.
Gallery 10 : Reserve Collection & Research GalleryA representative collection of
about 4,000 objects from the Museums artifacts store of over 20,000
objects (till 2008) are on display in a big hall on the lower ground
floor. This is one of the few museums where a significant number
of specimens from reserve collections is on display for informed
visitors.
An important aspect of these galleries are the active involvement of different
community groups from different parts of the country in developing the exhibits,
and its presentation in appropriate environment. Another special feature is the
life size displays and visitor friendly approaches for visitors convenience.
Museum Education and Salvage Activities
The Museum began to organise different kinds of education programmes since
1985 onwards. Different Museum Education activities were designed to develop
programme packages. These are in the form Travelling Exhibitions on different
themes of traditional art and community knowledge systems; organizing Do and
Learn participatory training Programme for interested persons on various
traditional art forms; Organising Seminars/ Camps and Workshops to disseminate
information on bio-cultural evolution of mankind and celebrate the cultural
diverisities and national integration.
The first Travelling Exhibition-Yatra (The Journey of mankind) began its
journey to Delhi in January, 1986, as part of the annual meet of the 73rd Session
of Indian Science Congress. This exhibition was an attempt to present, in a
miniature form, the bio-cultural evolution of mankind and the patterns of
contemporary cultures in India in the form of a living-museum display. For
example, a model of an Agaria hut was built and a few Agaria artisans from the
remote Bastar area of Madhya Pradesh were invited to demonstrate their traditional
skill of iron smelting practice. Science Congress specialists interacted with these
tribal artisans and appreciated their technology.
Construction of an exhibition-structure-Avritti Bhawanfor organizing
periodical exhibitions was completed by early 1990, and the first periodical
exhibition Vastu Prasang started at Shamla Hills in May 1990. The IGRMS hosted
a series of periodical exhibitions, and national seminars in Bhopal.
Paradigm Shift: Primacy to Communities and Museum as a Facilitator
The structure and functions of the Museum began to take definite shape after it
became an autonomous organization in the year 1985. Sachin Roy had envisaged
286 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
in his concept paper (1972) that a full-fledged Museum of Man should have
major sections knitted together of geology, zoology, prehistory, physical
anthropology, social and cultural anthropology, folk and tribal arts, human
geography, economic and social development disciplines. The concept, he said,
does not mean a multipurpose museum of the twenties (20
th
century) which was
a conglomeration of different departments, each opening its own separate shop
under a single huge roof (Roy: 1972, 27-28). The Plan-Outline on the National
Museum Man (NMM), published by the Director, Anthropological Survey of
India (1977) had demanded the need of setting up a new kind of museum with
emphasis on putting objects in the living human context, and of portraying the
general flow of life of the common people, shaped by socio-economic forces in
the historical perspectives, apart from noting the high water marks of creativity
in different historical periods. It also stressed the need to develop integrated
vision of human life rather than segmented pictures, determined by artificial
boundaries of different disciplines.
In 1987, two years after the Museum was converted into an Autonomous
Organisation, a Project Report was prepared during the tenure of R.S. Negi as
Director, which listed a perspective plan of display in the indoor galleries and
outdoor exhibitions, under three broad themes of human evolution, variation,
and patterns of culture. It stressed inter-institutional collaboration, research and
collection of objects from fast vanishing or changing communities. This Project
Report and the perspective plan were discussed in the 4
th
meeting of the Executive
Council on 25
th
July 1987 which resolved on a committee of experts to discuss
and rewrite the Project Report. In a comment (1994) on the developments in the
Museum from mid-1987 to 1993, it was pointed out by K. S. Singh, former
Director-General of Anthropological Survey of India and National Museum of
Man that, designed originally to explore the anthropological, biological, linguistic
and cultural dimensions of all the people of India in a holistic manner, and the
evolution of their civilization, the Museum was reduced to a tribal museum,
stressing the tribal material only. However, it may be stated that the active
involvement of the tribal communities in making the open-air exhibition on Tribal
Habitat certainly makes a departure from the traditional concept of museum
and display.
A further conceptual approach was developed by a Programme Committee
under the chairmanship of J. Swaminathan, then President, RMSS and presented
in the 16
th
meeting of the Executive Council (1992). This note questioned the
conventional approach of ethnological museums, tied to only tribal and analogous
cultures, and to the portrayal of remnants of such cultures with an underlying
assumption that these were dead or dying. It asked for a synchronic view of
different cultures, with an accent of the temporal and spatial continuum of the
world of culture. It also asked for depiction of mans relationships with other
human beings, with time and space, nature and culture, allowing for a to and fro
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 287
movement within and between these themes. This conceptual approach was
adopted by the Executive Council and S. Navlakha was engaged to detail this
approach into a report for discussion.
Navlakhas report (1994) stressed the need for presentation of multiple
perspectives eschewing a privileged epistemology including non-privileged voices;
to describe not only past but also present; not only others, but also ourselves; to
decentralize, destabilize and decolonize essentialist and reductionist narratives of
culture; to transcend cognitive and non-cognitive fact value distinctions, and to
offer a dialogical, relativist, open ended view of culture. The report warned against
mixing culture and biology in the depiction of evolution, and suggested description
of different culture-scapes, based on literate and pre-literate modes of subsistence,
as synchronic rather than chronologically fixed points. The report also stressed
the need for putting the historic periods, specially the last two three centuries,
and mostly, the 20
th
century in the context of intellectual history of mankind,
with a focus on modernity, ancient literary civilization (India), oral traditions,
architecture, settlement and livelihood styles, and relationships with environment,
on community structure, socialization and distribution patterns and on aesthetic
value and creative expression.
A comment on this report was about the difficulty of translating abstract
ideas into three dimensional realities and about the need to carryout the task as
an in-house exercise. The INC-ICOM National Chapter meet held in the Museum
in 1994 together with several members of the Governing Committee suggested
updating the concept and programme content, and the 18
th
meeting of the
Executive Council desired the Director, IGRMS, K.K. Chakravarty, to detail the
ideas of the concept and display.
Chakravarty, in his initial notes pointed out that until then (1994) the
discussions on the concept was confined to the Museums task of indoor and
outdoor exhibitions, and not explored the ways and means whereby the major
objectives of the RMS Samiti to be achieved, apart from the exhibitions. He
stressed the need to look into tangible and intangible elements of traditional
knowledge systems including solution for problems of health, nutrition, mans
relation with plants and animal, and to take exhibitions and salvage initiatives to
remote parts of the country. The IGRMS should widen its spectrum of activities
to demonstrate simultaneous validity of various cultures; the aesthetic quality of
local resource based traditional architecture, technologies, arts, crafts and the eco-
friendly conservation practices cherished and transmitted by the communities.
The IGRMS, through its display and field programmes, should caution the people
against unprecedented destruction of ecology. It should propagate the ability of
folk and tribal communities to recognize, codify, classify, present and use their
knowledge in harvesting the natural resources; their instinct to respect the tone
and rhythm of nature and their perception of community rights and obligations.
It should play a catalyst role between rural communities and the different academic
288 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
and administrative institutions of the Govt. for providing local inputs into the
developmental plans.
Chakravartys notes were discussed in the Samiti meeting on 11
th
June, 1997.
The members agreed that the objectives of the institution and the scope of its
activities were very much different, and much wider than those of a conventional
Museum. The members of the Samiti felt that the Museum should deepen its
initiatives in revitalizing and presenting the variety and plurality of local knowledge
systems and histories; in demonstrating the simultaneous harmony and diversity
of the Indian languages in creative expression; in stressing the multi-linear process
of bio-cultural evolution, away from the Euro-centric unilinear views; in
dissemination of the knowledge and information among students; in protecting
community rights, and in strengthening involvement of disadvantaged and
vulnerable sections of the society in the Museum programmes.
These resolutions paved the path for a major emphasis in spreading out the
Museum activities which were hitherto confined, more or less, to a configuration
of conventional museum, though not wanted as such. In this regard, the 9
th
Five
Year Plan period (1997-2002) was a turning stage in the history of the IGRMS.
The Outreach activities of the Museum surged out to different corners of the
country. The Government, by recognizing the role of IGRMS as a catalytic agent
for revitalizing various life enhancing community traditions, enhanced the financial
allocations of annual budgetary provisions considerably. The Museum established
direct contacts with different segments of folk and tribal communities in different
eco-climatic zones, and organized special thematic exhibitions on environmental
values and life enhancing traditions, and also interactive workshops to promote
the different traditional art forms and traditional knowledge systems of the
communities. The Outreach activities of the Museum received further boost
during the 10
th
Plan period (2002-07), in terms of increased financial support
from the government, to do more and more interactive community related
programmes. The Museum has continued to follow the twin-strategies of taking
museum to communities and bringing communities to museum, in order to translate the
new perception into action. Some of the significant achievements under this
programme were as follows.
Taking Museum to the Communities
To spread awareness on the importance of man-environment relations a new
traveling exhibition Sacred Groves of India was created for circulation in different
parts of India. This exhibition depicts various methods adopted traditionally by
different communities in conserving bio-diversity. The exhibition travelled from
place to place from time to time. The Museum has simultaneously started intensive
field programmes among various community groups, to document, preserve, and
disseminate their eco-specific knowledge on management of natural resources.
A series of such interactions have generated rich data and artifacts, besides a
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 289
good collection of varieties of plant-species. Two pockets of the IGRMS campus
in Bhopal, have been developed into ethno-botanical gardens with prototypes of
sacred grove shrines, as seen in Bihar, Chhattisgarh (Sarna), Kerala (Kaavu),
Maharashtra (Devrahati), Manipur (Umanglai), Meghalaya (Maw-bukhar), Rajasthan
(Oran), Tamilnadu (Kovil-Kadu).
To promote the traditional practice of health care system and its efficacies and
continued vitality in advanced conditions, national level interactive workshops of
tribal medicine-men and exhibitions of their practices were organized in different
regions, and a directory of such medicinal practitioners was published.
To promote the literary traditions of marginalised communities workshops were
organized at Kalimpong and Takna (West Bengal), Arakku Valley (Andhra
Pradesh); Guwahati (Assam) etc. Workshops of Pandits were organized at Himachal
Pradesh for transmission of traditional texts associated with Tantrik system of
prognostication and healing, written in ancient and vanishing script.
Inter-regional cultural exchange programmes of artisan communities and performing
artists were organized, with special focus on the North-eastern communities, to
provide them platforms to interact with the cultures of other parts of the country.
This was necessary to reduce the ethnic tension gripping in different pockets of
North-east India. Purvottari-festival of artisan communities of the eight North-
eastern States is organised in a North-eastern State annually.
To promote traditional arts and crafts of folk and tribal craftsmen Interactive
workshops, meets of different community groups were organized across the
country, (Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Tripura, Tamilnadu, Orissa, Tamilnadu etc.). In collaboration with the Kollam
District Administration and Tourism Department of Kerala, Paramparya festival
of traditional artisans and craftsmen were organized at Kollam, with participation
of over 500 tribal and folk artisans from different parts of India. Later similar
events were organised at Edakkal, in collaboration with the Wayanad District
administration in Kerala.
To document and promote the importance of traditional water management
traditions workshops were organized in Gujarat and Budhelkand area of Madhya
Pradesh.
It also supports at various levels in organizing seminars and symposiums to
motivate the research scholars for exchange of ideas and new thesis. A three tier
networking has been built up with different state/central government
organizations, non-government agencies and individual experts engaged in the
exploration and replenishment of local knowledge and techniques of communities.
Bringing Communities to Museum
A number of collaborative programmes are being organized, to motivate the
different section of communities in appreciating the cultural diversity and national
integration. Some of them are as follows:
290 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
Balrang-An annual festival of School children, is organized in the Museum
campus, every year, in collaboration with the School Education Department of
Madhya Pradesh State government, for two days. On the first day, the State level
(Madhya Pradesh) competition of creative performances are held, emulating the
richness and diversity of the regional folk music, dance, painting, folk drama etc.
by the school students of Madhya Pradesh. Also functions of the Judiciary (Bal-
Nyalaya), Journalism, Theatre, etc. are staged, to strengthen the democratic values
of the country among the children. On the second day, national level competition
of folk-dance of different States of India are organized in which about 500
students from 16-18 States have been participating. In this event, thousands of
school children take part in different events. A Mini-India exhibition is organized,
by the children from local schools of Bhopal, focusing the regional varieties of
cuisine traditions, exhibits of important land-marks in the history of Indias cultural
identity. Different Government organizations like, Archaeological Survey of India,
Museum of Natural History etc. would also participate with their periodical
exhibitions, to promote awareness on the children on the importance of Indias
heritage, both man-made and natural. Childrens literature exhibition are also
organized by the National Book Trust.
Celebration of Regional Cultures of India is an important annual event of the
IGRMS, started in 2006 with Sikkim festival in the IGRMS campus. Subsequently,
Tripura Festival (2007), Punjab Festival (2008), Assam Festival (2008) have been
organized. The main features of this event are: (i) exhibition, showcasing different
aspects of heritage of that State, (ii) craft-mela, (iii) ethnic food and (iv) performing
art presentation. During the programme, the visitors to the Museum get exposed
not only to the products of different arts and crafts of the selected region presented
by a large delegation of State representation, the visitors also derive pleasure in
knowing about the language, dress, etiquette etc. of the guest artists. The local
visitors throng in for purchase of varieties of food items cooked by the guest
artists. By this programme the intangible cultural heritage of different States are
showcased for respecting the culture of other regions. A notable aspect of this
programme is the collective involvement of concerned communities, i.e. Punjabi,
Assamese etc. in Bhopal.
An important annual event has been started by IGRMS from 2006 onwards,
titled Shaswati - on the Women and Cultural Heritage. In that year, a national workshop
of women artisans (Sarjana), a national seminar on Gender and Museum (Vidushi),
first national festival of women instrumental musicians (Prathama), and an
exhibition on the invisible role of women in the preservation and promotion of
cultural heritage (Bhumika) were organized. While in Sarjana about 150 women
artisans participated for ten days representing different craft traditions of India,
Prathama was a unique cultural festival where 13 celebrated women instrumentalists
performed in five evenings. They include Yogmaya Shukla (Tabla), Sikkil Sisters
(Flute) etc. The exhibition, Bhumika, goes beyond the dichotomy of essentialist
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 291
and constructivist approach to gender studies. It challenges the stereotypical image
of woman as confined to home and hearth by emphasizing the role of women in
various subsistence activities. It celebrates the triumph of creativity of the subaltern
woman amidst the dreary drudgery of daily life. The display of kitchen with
utensils of different communities implies multiple cultural heritage as well as
hybridity.
Umang: Special programme for vulnerable groups is organized annually in order to
enable differently abled persons and children to visit indoor museum galleries.
Since 2006, the World Disabled Day (December 3) is celebrated in collaboration
with the Department of Social Justice Government of Madhya Pradesh. On that
day, an awareness rally is organised in the City of Bhopal for the cause of differently
abled people. Special arrangements are made for the differently abled children to
visit IGRMS exhibition galleries on that day and present their special items cultural
programme. Some children who brought laurels for India in the Special Olympic
in China were felicitated, in 2007. Provisions for ramps and wheel chair have
been re-created. Labeling on Braille has been done for the benefit of blind visitors,
to understand the cultural dimensions of displays in the galleries.
Parvarish: an innovative project was started for slum children with the initiative
of an NGO Oasis whose objective was to introduce museum as a school of
learning in a non-formal manner. The students were taught in a non-formal manner
in the IGRMS open air exhibition for two days a week. Other museums also
participated in it including Regional Museum of Natural History and Regional
Science Centre.
These activities received commendable response, and acknowledged at various
fora that the IGRMS has already broken certain barriers of the conventional
museum functioning, and that it has laid a new track for a new museum movement.
Conclusion
To conclude, the typical features of IGRMS are highlighted as follows. While
museums generally are set up to house an already available collection, for IGRMS
the concept came first and collection followed. The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav
Sangrahalaya has lived a vigorous life of more than three decades, transcended
some barriers of museum in a conventional sense, and laid new tracks by working
in collaboration with folk and tribal communities all over the country for
preservation of their bio-cultural identities and their self respect. It has established
bridges among different regions and communities in the country, and tried to
achieve the goal of national integration by establishing contacts with the youth,
women and disadvantaged groups. Within its modest resources, the IGRMS has
tried to affirm the fact that the Indian communities, which have lived in harmony
for thousands of years, may have the answer for human survival in an age when
there is apprehension of bio-cultural extinction. By emphasizing traditional
knowledge system IGRMS does not like to romanticize it as a changeless essentialist
292 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
entity, rather tries to bring out elements of culture as input in sustainable
development. Traditional water management, sacred groves are some examples.
Understood in these perspectives the statement that IGRMS is a Museum with a
difference in India is not a mere clich.
References
Anthropological Survey of India 1977 National Museum of Man: A Plan Outline. Calcutta.
Basa, K. K. & Jayaprakasan G. 2007 Srinivas and National Museum of Mankind in M.N. Srinivas:
The Man and His Work, Rawat Publications, Jaipur.
Chakravarty, K. K., n.d., Concept Note on Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal
(unpublished, prepared in 1998).
Hudson K., 1977 Museums for the 1980s : A Survey of the World Trends, UNESCO, London, Paris and
Macmillan Press Ltd.,.
Lee, Paula Young 1997 The Museum of Alexandria and the formation of the Museum in
eighteenth-century, France, The Art Bulletin.
R. M. S. 1987 Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya: Project Report (Unpublished, prepared in March 1987).
Roy, Sachin 1972 Museum of Man in India: Problems and Prospects.
Vatsyayan K. 2005 Souvenir on Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal.
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 293
Fig. 27.1: Toda Habitat in the Tribal Habitat Open Air Exhibition
Fig. 27.2: An Overview of the Coastal Village Open Air Complex
294 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
Fig. 27.3: Welcoming the Arrival of the Snake Boat from Kerala by the
Malayalee Folks of Bhopal
Fig. 27.4: An Overview of the Veethi Sankul Indoor Museum
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 295
Fig. 27.5: Prof. M. N. Srinivas being honoured by Thiru Muthicane,
a Toda Tribal Leader in IGRMS Campus
Fig. 27.6: Agaria Tribal People demonstrating Traditional Iron Smelting
Techniques in IGRMS Campus
296 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
Fig. 27.7: Chakesang Naga Artists Performing in front of their
Traditional House in IGRMS Campus
Fig. 27.8: Do and Learn Programme
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 297
Fig. 27.9: Visit of Differently Abled Children to Veethi Sankul Indoor Museum
Fig. 27.10: A Priest from Kerala ritualizing the Sacred Grove of
Kerala in IGRMS Campus
298 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India
Fig. 27.11: Tribal Healers Workshop
Fig. 27.12: Women Artisans displaying their creativities in
Shashwati Programme in IGRMS Campus