Date:14/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/14/stories/2008101452920300.htm

Kerala - Kozhikode

New look for ethnological museum

Staff Reporter

Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

tribal riches: Minister for the Welfare of Scheduled and Backward Communities A.K. Balan examining a model at the KIRTADS ethnological museum in Kozhikode on Monday.

Kozhikode: Minister for the Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes A.K. Balan on Monday opened the renovated ethnological museum on the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Kirtads) campus here.

The Minister also performed the switch-on ceremony of the documentary films to be made on the on the lives of the primitive tribes of the State, to be produced by KIRTADS.

The museum, established in 1973, was shifted to a more spacious building in 2000 and the renovation was completed in 2008. It showcases a wide variety of artefacts used by different tribal communities in the State besides models of their huts and other lifestyle instruments. The models of huts of tribes, such as Cholanaikkan, Kurumbar and Kadar, are on display.

The renovated museum will permanently display more than 2,200 artefacts, photographs, ornaments and household articles of tribal people. The renovation, carried out by Nirmithi Kendra at a cost of Rs.19.3 lakh, makes the arrangements at the museum more modern, scientific and attractive. The three-storey building has the ‘Kalluala’ of the Cholanaikkan tribe on the ground floor.

Artificial trees recreating the Nilambur forest ambience and huts and equipment of the Kadar and Paniya tribes are also on this floor. The huts and lifestyles of tribes such as Vettakuruman, Irulan, Kurumbar and Muthuvan in Wayanad and Idukki districts and Attappady in Palakkad district can be seen on the first floor.

A sacred grove is the main attraction of the second floor. Theyyam and ‘Devapura’ of the Mavilars are displayed there. P.M.A. Salam, MLA, presided over the function. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Department Principal Secretary J. Sudhakaran and State Nirmithi Kendram regional engineer E. Sivasankaran spoke on the occasion.