Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum |
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Dr.
Dinkar Kelkar started collecting exhibits around 1920 and one by one,
section by section he raised the collections to around 15,000 objects of
great attraction till the year 1960. He was very much fond of showing
these exhibits to his friends and visitors in the same way as he wanted
them to grasp his poems. Gradually the collection became a point of
great attraction even to the visitors abroad. Dr. Kelkar could then
easily win the minds of the authorities of the local bodies and of the
State Govt. as well as of private institutions all over India, who came
forward to help him to further collect the exhibits and convert the
collection into a Regional Museum for Western India.
It was to the credit of Shri. Y.B. Chavan , the then Chief Minister of
Maharashtra and Shri. P.J. Chinmulgund, the then Education Secretary of
the State Govt. that the one man collection could take the shape of a
real Museum. In fact the names of such institutions, state - authorities
and luminaries who contributed towards the building of this Museum are
too many to be enumerated here.
As a result of this public appreciation Dr. Kelkar decided in the year
1962 to hand -over his collection to the Dept. of Archaeology, Govt. of
Maharashtra for developing it as a Regional Museum with better display
and maintenance of its exhibits. |
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Mastani
Mahal
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The Mastani Mahal situated on the same floor reminds one of the romantic
and heroic life of the Bajirao Peshawa the first in the company of his
beloved Mastani. |
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The
Mastani Mahal |
Bajirao
Peshwa 1 (Painting), Mughal School, Contemporary |
Mastani
(Glass Painting), Mughal School, Contemporary |
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Ivory
Objects |
On the other part of the ground
floor the museum has arranged more valuable Ivory objects, namely
Ink-Pots, House-Shrines, Toilet Utility objects, Games and Playing Cards
('Ganjeefa'). |
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Parsee
Man (Ivory) South India 18 th Century |
Shree
Ganesh (Ivory) Nepal 17 th Century |
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Wood -
Work & Sculptures
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On the 'L'
passage of the ground floor at the entrance have been arranged
the artistically decorated doors and windows along with their
panels and brackets with proper settings on the wall, so that
one gets the impression of being just in front of the then
existing house from where the particular doors have been
collected. The stone sculptures displayed here along the wall un mistakeably appeal to the aesthetic sense of the visitor. |
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Lamps
& Tambool |
In the other part of the 2nd floor are exhibited the Bronzes, the Lamps of
profuse variety, the Tambool artifacts and the writing materials along with
the decorative Ink-pots. Mention worthy are the Sun-Lamp from Nepal and the
Kadamba. tree Lamp with the Raasa-Lila depicted on it |
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Gujrat
Gallery & Vanita Kaksha |
In
the Vanita Kaksha of the New Building, also situated on the ground floor,
one can very well visualise how a day is begun by an Indian woman
involving the use of Vajris i.e. foot cleaners, the mirrors, the combs, the
collyrium-boxes and the Kumkum caskets. |
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Indian
Paintings |
In the smaller
room before we enter the Gujrat Gallery, the Museum has displayed the
Indian Paintings of different kinds belonging to 17th to 19th Century,
i.e. Glass Paintings , cloth paintings, paintings on parchment, paintings
on leather and paper. |
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Musical
Instruments |
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The other part of the
1st floor is occupied by the beautiful collection of the Musical
Instruments of various kinds namely the beating (drums etc.) Most
remarkable among the beating instruments is the "Khol" of Keshavrao
Bhole;among the blowing instruments the "Flute of Pannalal Ghosh" and
among the string instruments the "tanpura os Sawai Gandharva" and "Mini
Tanpura of Bal Gandharva" and also the Taar Shehnai of Madukar
Golwalkar.The Museum proposes to pour music into these instruments by
making them enjoyable through Casset-Recording .In a small section of
the Musical Instruments Gallery, the Museum has displayed the Objects of
Tribal art, Hubble-Bubbles and pipes. |
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