New Handloom & Handicraft Museum To Showcase Odishan Culture and Architecture

New Handloom & Handicraft Museum To Showcase Odishan Culture and Architecture

Bhubaneswar, December 7: The much-awaited Handicrafts and Handloom museum at Gandamunda along Pokhariput Khandagiri road is now in its final stages of completion before it is opened for the public. Around 95 percent of the civil work is overwhile some of the interior design work is being carried out. The museum is expected to be inaugurated before March 2018.

“The construction work of the museum is almost completed and now the interior designing is going on. It will be completed soon. Delay has occurred due to lot of changes and addition from time to time,” said Anjana Panda, Joint Secretary of Handloom and Textile Department.

Informing MCL about the status of the work, she said, “The procurement of handloom, handicrafts and other artifacts from various places of the state has been already done. Since this would be a unique museum, we are making sure that all the antique collections are upto the mark. Our officials visited every corner of the state to bring together rare collections. The work is on at full pace and we are expecting that the museum will be inaugurated by March.”Authorities apprise that around 4500 rare and used collections of various artifacts have been gathered and only the best of them will be selected to be displayed at the galleries.

“The Gandamunda Museum will be a first-of-its-kind in the entire eastern region of the country. The museum is divided into two blocks based on handloom and handicraft. Each block has five galleries.Visitors will be able to see theme based galleries of items,” added Panda.Constructed in a traditional way, the architecture of the museum reflects the age-old tradition of constructing a structure in the state with the use of laterite and sandstones. The museum, which includes places for workshops, two blocks of museum and a beautiful open-air amphitheatre, is constructed on 12.6 acres land. So far, the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department has invested around Rs.33 crore on the project.

Both the blocks of the museum are interconnected by a traditional courtyard that is a replica of old styled Odia households. The lawns and plantations around the place are also being beautified with around 500 saplings planted to give the museum a greener look. Panda said that most of the saplings are of those plants that carry some relevance in the making of the handicraft and handloom items.

“Apart from displaying the rare collections, the museum will be known for the live demonstrations by artisans who will create their products at the museum which would help the visitors understand the whole technique and procedure. We would invite artisans making different forms of handloom and handicrafts on a rotation basis,” added Panda.

Explaining more about the design of the building, she said, “Odisha is famous for stone carving and its architecture. Thus, we decided to construct the museum building in a way to reflect our traditional architectural and lifestyle. The artisans from Raghurajpur have built the stone structure with a beautiful courtyard, water body, heritage wall and different well-designed segments for the display area.”

There will be around 10 galleries in the museum where household objects, ornaments, mythology/folklore depictions, palm-leaf painting and etching, dhokra art, metal works, stone carving, woodcarving, pattachitra, terracotta, appliqué work, handlooms among others will be displayed.

The handloom museum will have collections on ancient costumes, their evolution and contemporary designs. The collections will include Sambalpuri, Kataki, Berhampuri silk, Bomkai, Khandua sarees, Tussar fabrics, along with appliqué works. The authorities have collected around 1000 rare handloom collections. Some of the collections are used ones but have beautiful designs that are hard to see these days.

One of the attractions at the handloom section for the visitors will be the making of handlooms, where different types of looms used in Odisha handloom and tribal weaving pattern will be displayed.

A special gallery on Jagannath culture comprising things used during the daily rituals of Lord Jagannath will be on display, besides a section exhibiting items related to Odissi dance. While the department is also trying to procure the original Jagannath Rath used during last Rath Yatra to be displayed at the museum, replicas of the chariots will be presented. Apart from the display galleries, the museum will also have a restoration room, a raw material bank for the artisan working in the museum and astoreroom.

The authorities are also planning to replay all the traditional games played in villages like Pasapalli, snake and ladders, marble games, hopscotch (kit kit) and seven stones among others.