Chess: Ivory; Maharashtra; 18th Century

“Aapko andar aadhaa ghanta hi lagega [It will only take you half an hour inside],” the auto rickshaw driver tells me with full conviction. A little voice inside of me shakes its head and mutters, “Naaaa, an hour. I need an hour.”

Neither know me well. I end up spending two hours.

Remember when we were little children and the whole world was one fantasy land filled with fantastical objects, much like an Aladdin’s cave? The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is a manifestation of that fantasy.

Tucked inside an obscure lane in Pune’s Old City—2,500 pieces of a whopping 21,000 objet d’art collection—are displayed over three floors and 42 sections of what was once Dr. Dinkar G. Kelkar’s (1896 – 1990) home. Though much of the edifice is now a museum the family continues to live in a portion closed to the public.

The Collector

So who was Dr. Kelkar? Kaka, as he was fondly known, was an optician by profession, a poet at heart, and a collector by nature. Writing under the pseudonym “Adnyatwas,” his love affair with antiquities, art objects, and history started around 1920. A plaque inside explains this soon led to a lifetime of travels “across the country to obscure villages and tribal settlements, to grand temples and humble huts, to forgotten attics and folk fairs—collecting … always collecting.”

He was driven by a dream to give Indian arts and crafts, which he believed excelled at creating motifs in the mundane and blending innovation and tradition, the recognition it deserved. With an uncanny ability to spot the exotic in everyday objects, he single-handedly amassed his exorbitant collection. Eighty-five percent of it, however, never sees the light of day because of a lack of space.

Chaitra Gauri Cradle: Ivory; Karnataka; 19th Century

The Collection

Mainly dated around the Mughal and Maratha periods, the art objects in stone, wood, metal, ivory, fabric, and clay stand as testimony to the richness of India’s creative and cultural spirit. No two vajris of the 150 piece bevy are alike. Each leather shadow puppet in the 3,000 piece compendium is unique.

Pièces de résistance include the original Mastani Mahal, carefully dismantled and reassembled in the Kelkar home, assorted items once used by royalty such as “erotic nut-crackers” and betel boxes, and an 18th Century miniature painting of Bajirao I. Of no less charm are the exotic animal-shaped Indian musical instruments donated by contemporary classical musicians, carved palace doors, dowry boxes, and armoury made of fish scales and crocodile skin. To be further charmed, you can drool on effigies of the Hindu pantheon and jewellery 200 years old.

Pride of the museum: Mastani Mahal was built by Peshwa Bajirao I for his half-Muslim second wife Mastani at Kothrud, near Pune in 1734. In an effort to save the structure from deterioration and destruction, Dr. D.G. Kelkar, the founder of Kelkar Museum dismantled the palace and reconstructed it inside the museum in its full original glory with the help of skilled artisans.

The Museum

Raja Dinkar Kelkar was Dr. Kelkar’s son. He died at the tender age of seven. Established in 1962, the museum is dedicated to Raja Dinkar in remembrance. In 1975, Dr. Kelkar donated the museum in its entirety to the Maharashtra Government.

In addition to the collection, the Museum also houses research facilities and the Institute of Musicology and Fine Arts.

Wandering through the corridors, over the many floors, I often found myself completely alone. Apart from a bunch of schoolgirls working on an assignment, punctuated with vigorous selfie-taking wrapped in muffled giggles, there was no one else. Every cabinet I peeked into gave me goose-bumps. The combination of quality, creativity, and a date typed on a small nondescript label was a heady one to say the least. I felt I was Alice in Wonderland. 🙂 The penchant for fantasy never leaves us, does it? Whether we are children, or full-blown adults.

[Note: Click on any of the below images and it will start a slide show.]

Shrine: Gold and silver coated; Wai (Maharashtra); 18th Century.

Vajri: Brass and copper; 18th Century. The Vajri is made up of two parts—an upper part decorated with some kind of a motif, and a lower part which is filed to create a rough surface. The enclosed cavity contains metal balls which make a tinkling sound when the Vajri is used. The Kelkar Museum has a mind boggling collection of about 150 Vajris dating back over the last two centuries.

The temples of South India are usually guarded at the entrance with a Yali or evil crusher, a lion faced animal with sharp teeth, huge claws, and a muscular body. The Yalis are endowed with complete supremacy over the animal world. Thus, while other animals fear one another, the Yali fears none.

Wooden comb: Maharashtra and South India; 19th Century.

Lord Krishna with flute: Marble; Rajasthan; 18th Century.

Pancha-mukhi Maruti: Wood; South India; 18th Century. Pancha-mukhi Maruti means Lord Maruti or Hanuman with five faces. The four additional heads [from right to left] are those of a horse, boar, lion, and eagle. They symbolize the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. Maruti assumed this form to kill Ahiravan and Mahiravan, Ravan’s allies, in Lord Ram’s battle with Ravan.

Multipurpose kiln: Copper and brass; Rajasthan; 17th Century.

Leather puppet: Karnataka; 18th Century. Shadow puppets in India are found throughout the Southern and Eastern shores. Made of goat skin and upto 2.5 feet high, they are beautifully perforated and decorated with jewellery and costumes. The Kelkar Museum has a collection of 3,000 leather shadow puppets divided into 20 stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Ceiling with Lord Vishnu and Nagkanyas: Savantwadi (Maharashtra); 18th Century.

Glass painting on door: 19th Century.

Small lamps: Brass; Gujarat, Maharashtra, and South India; 18th Century.

Playing cards: Ivory; Maharashtra; 18th Century.

Vichitra Veena: South India; Contemporary.

Hanging lamp with acrobat motif: Brass; South India; 18th Century.

Erotic nut-crackers: Brass and silver; Maharashtra, Gujarat, and South India; 18th – 19th Century.

Travel tips:

• Address: Kamal Kunj, Natu Baug, Off Bajirao Road, 1377-78, Shukrawar Peth, Pune – 411002, Maharashtra; Tel: +91 20 2448 2101/ 2446 1556; Email: sudhanva@rajakelkarmuseum.com.
• Museum timings: 10:00 am – 5:30 pm everyday.
• Admission fees: Rs. 50 [Indian], Rs. 200 [Foreigners]; No charge for differently abled visitors.
• Photography charges [without flash]: Mobile camera: Rs. 100; Still camera: Rs. 200; Video camera: Rs. 500.