DakshinaChitra

DakshinaChitra

Location within Tamil Nadu
Established	14 December 1996  (1996-12-14)
Location	East Coast Road, Muttukadu, Chennai, India
Coordinates
Type	Heritage centre
Curator	Deborah Thiagarajan
Website	dakshinachitra.net

DakshinaChitra ("a picture of the south") is a living-history museum in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu dedicated to South Indian heritage and culture. It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the south of Chennai. Opened to the public on 14 December 1996, the museum was founded and is being managed by the Madras Craft Foundation (MCF). The MCF was established in 1984. Dr. Deborah Thiagarajan, an Indian art historian of American origin, governs the museum.

The museum is built on 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land taken on a 33-year lease from the Government of Tamil Nadu. Developed as a heritage village, DakshinaChitra has an array of displays depicting the life pattern of Indians in the states of South India. The exhibits portray the living beliefs of art, folk performing-arts, craft and architecture of India, in particular of South Indian traditions.

History

DakshinaChitra, meaning "a picture of the south", is a heritage village where the lifestyle of South Indians is revived based on their states. It was founded by the Madras Craft Foundation (MCF), an NGO started in 1984, by Dr. Deborah Thiagarajan. Thiagarajan had come to Madras (now Chennai) in 1970 and visited several rural villages in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. She founded MCF in 1984 with the intent of preserving the regional culture and heritage. In July 1991, the MCF received 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land for the project from the Government of Tamil Nadu on a 33-year lease. In establishing the museum, cooperation was maintained between government organizations, industry and specialists in the sphere of conservation. Contributors to the museum's creation included long-term corporate donors and a network of organizations, such as Prakriti Foundation, Amethyst, National Folklore Support Centre, the Crafts Council of India, Ford Foundation and the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handicrafts.

Design

The museum’s overall planning concept was evolved by the architect Laurie Baker, which he did without charging any fee, in view of his well-known background in rural architectural design. His approach included cost effectiveness with use of local materials coupled with adaptation of artisanal methods of production suiting to the environment. Benny Kuriakose was the architect at site. Kuriakose, while retaining main “spatial types and syntax”, altered the layout plan. The southern part of the museum was devoted to restore and recreate the native structures and putting them together in a sequence, in the order of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu; a separate area was initially earmarked for tribal people of these states but was not put into effect.

Architecture

An Agraharam from Tirunelveli assembled within the museum.

File:Tamil house inside view.jpg

A typical Tamil house recreated in the museum.

The museum has 18 heritage houses representing the living styles of people from the states of South India such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, North Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana. These houses were recreated by a team of architecture students, carpenters and workers who set about measuring, photographing and carefully dismantling the house; these were original houses that were allowed to be demolished by the original owners in their villages or towns. The original houses in their "vernacular style" were purchased by MCF and purchase costs varied from Rs. 50,000 for ordinary mud houses to Rs. 1.5 million for the Chettinad Merchants' mansions with crafted doors and woodwork.) They were then dismantled systematically under the guidance of stapathis (temple architects) for recreation. The dismantled elements of the houses were transported to the museum site and recreated at the allotted space for the state in their exact original form. Apart from recreating the homes, the roads and all other features as existed in the old village site of the structures were also recreated. The houses are said to represent mostly the Chettiar themes of the Nattukkottai Chettiars who have been in the forefront of conservation, restoration and renovation of public edifices, a view in some circles, particularly on the aspect of replication of pre-industrial rural life and it represents "American Consumerism".

Collections

Household items within the museum's collection.

The artefacts in the museum reflect the daily life in the Southern States. As of 2014, there were 4,220 artefacts on display; 3,200 are art related, and 70 pertain to contemporary aspects. Approximately 950 objects are of clothing, featuring typical South Indian attire of men and women in cotton and silk fabrics.

The museum contains a collection of books and journals pertaining to the arts, crafts, performance, anthropology and folklore of South India. There are also 1,000,000 pictures. The entire display and presentation is in the English language, and highlights the cultural aspects of Brahminical people, and highlights the craft traditions of heritage homes of South India.

Programs

There is a center for living traditions of art, folk performing arts, and crafts set up with the objective of preserving and promoting South India's heritage and culture, conceptualizing Special programmes feature dances, crafting of necklaces, basket weaving, and puppet shows. The museum also holds workshops for training in traditional crafts such as indigo dying. Potters trained at this center are issued a certificate for their skills by the regional office of the Department of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts). Cultural programmes such as classical dances Bharatnatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi, and also music concerts are regular events held in the large amphitheater. Each year, 15,000 school children visit the museum.

Grounds

Fisherman Andhra House on the museum grounds.

The center occupies ten acres overlooking the Bay of Bengal, at Muttukadu, 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Chennai, on the East Coast Road to Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India. The grounds include a research unit, crafts bazaar, playground, an area to hold religious functions, stone workshop, and souvenir kiosks. The craftsmen demonstrate or explain how they make their wares.

Appreciation

Mary E. Hancock in her book on anthropological history The Politics of Heritage from Madras to Chennai has observed:

DakshinaChitra’s global template has earned both praise and derision, with some conservation architects and cultural tourism proponents calling it a Disnefied version of South India's past.

The Ford Foundation declared:

MCF has promoted awareness and appreciation of local art forms and established Dakshina Chitra, an interactive museum on South Indian arts and culture.

Krishenblatt-Gimblet (1998), quoted in Re-shaping Cities: How Global Mobility Transforms Architecture and Urban Form by Michael Guggenheim, Ola Söderström, wrote:

DakshinaChitra re-creates regional lifeworks with a combination of in-situ representations of vernacular living spaces and in-content strategies, such as labels, audio-visual guides and catalogues”.

External links

• Official website