Ethnographic Museums in Central India

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About the Book Ethnographic museum generally termed as tribal museum or anthropological museum, deals with tribal material and external sectors, there is a serious need to preserve and conserve the tribal culture, if is in this context ethnographic museum plays a significant role. The tribal culture, museum reflects the tribal ethos and identity. Starting from a collection of ethnological object in Indian museum, Kolkata in 1813, there are dozens of ethnographic museums being established in India by central government, state governments, universities, NGOs etc. the central India, which is rich in tribal culture and having the largest concentration of tribes in India, boast of a number of ethnographic museums revealing the diverse cultural heritage of the tribes of central India. This volume is a welcome edition in the field of ethnographic museums. It gives insights on little known ethnographic museums of the area. The volume shall be helpful for the planners, academicians, museilogists,scholars, layman for understanding tribal cultural heritage of central India.

About the Author Prof. Byomakesh Tripathy formerly Professor in Rajiv Gandhi Central University, Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh). He was the former Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Director Academics, Presently he is the Head, Department of History, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, and Amarkantak (M.P.). His area of interest includes field archaeology, Indian Culture, Buddhist studies, history of NE India, tribal studies etc.

Dr. Gauri Shankar Mahapatra teaches museology in the department of Tribal Studies Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak (M.P.). With his interest, the former ‘Ethnographic Museum’ of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University reappeared in a new name ‘Pan-Indian Tribal Museum’ with a new concept. His area of interest includes museology, heritage management, culture studies etc.

Dr. Basanta Kumara Mohanta has been teaching anthropology since more than one decade. His area of interest includes prehistory, ethno archaeology, museology, ICH, cultural anthropology, medical anthropology etc. He initiated the ‘ Ethnographic Museum’ in Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak in 2009-10. Presently, he is working as Acting Head, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Business and Social Sciences, Eritrea, Africa.

Preface The edited volume consists of nineteen research articles, dealing with various dimensions of Ethnographic museum in Central India. The Central India has the largest concentration of tribes in India and as such, is an abode of tribal history and culture. The cultural heritage of the tribes is reflected in the tangible and intangible forms. For preserving the tribal heritage and identity, the ethnographic museums play a significant role and in this context the volume assumes significance.

B. Tripathy and Basanta Kumar Mohanta, in the first article dwell upon the concept and development of ethnographic museum, in the context of the world and India. Discussing the concept and history of ethnographic movement in India, authors have discussed the ethnographic museums in Pre-Colonial period and after the independence of India, highlighting the contribution of various agencies such as Central Govt., State Govt., and Universities etc.

The importance of Ethnographic museum has been discussed by Atul Chandra Bhowmick, by providing an in-depth analysis of the contributions of ethnographic museums and the procedure of documentation of ethnographic specimens for better understanding of the context of tribal material culture.

Amit Soni has presented an article dealing with museographer approach to tribal cultural heritage. By quoting examples from ethnographic museums, they try to focuses on the role of ethnographic museums in the continuity of tribal heritage, by emphasizing on active educational and recreational facilities of the museum.

Bipas Roy Chowdhury has thrown light on ethnographic museums of Central India, in brief, taking examples from Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Odisha, reflecting diverse material culture of the tribes of the region.

The cultural trove of Bastar, as preserved in the Zonal Anthropological museum of Anthropological survey of India at Jagadalpur is presented by Sarabjeet Singh, where a detailed note on the material remains of tribes of Bastar is provided with its functional aspects. In the same vein, Loknath Soni has presented the material entire of Central archaeological museum Nagpur, which is collected from tribes of Andaman and Nicobar, North-East India, Central and Eastern India.

The government of Madhya Pradesh has established a tribal museum at Bhopal, to portray the material culture and ethos of tribal heritage of the region. Bipasa Roy Chowdhury and Kumkum Kasturi have documented and analysed the preserved tribal Culture of the museum with its context.

Private collections do provide new light on tribal material culture of Central India. In this aspect Gauri Shankar Mahapatra has discussed the ethnographic objects preserved in the private collection of H.M. Sharda, a bank officer of Bhopal, who has collected hundreds of tribal material culture from tribal areas of Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

The region of Koraput of South Odisha is notable for diverse tribal culture and heritage. Being the Horne of a number of tribes, South Odisha presents tribal material culture in plenty, which provide significant understanding of their socio, economic and religious life. Binod Bihari Satpathy has documented the rich ethnographic collection of tribal museum, Koraput, in its cultural context.

The Berhampur University, Odisha has established the South Odisha Cultural Research Centre, in which tribal and folk material culture of the region is preserved. Soumyasree Deepayana Dash has documented the material culture preserved in the cultural research centre by highlighting the tribal heritage of the region.

The department of Anthropology of Utkal University has a cultural museum of Anthropology, for teaching and research. It contains Prehistoric tools, tribal material culture etc collected during explorations and excavation conducted by the department. Subodh Kumar Mohanty in his brief note focused on the significance of the museum. In the same manner, Laxman Kumar Sahoo has thrown light on the material culture of Anthropology and Tribal Studies Department, North Orissa University, Baripada and discussed how the museum can play an important role in preserving the cultural heritage of the tribes of North Odisha.

The government of Madhya Pradesh has established a tribal and folk art museum at Khajuraho, notable for medieval temple architecture worldwide. Rajendra Dehuri has discussed the background and collection of the museum and states that the museum has immense scope with regard to tourism at Khajuraho.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages