A day at the Kelkar Museum, Pune!

About Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum:

The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is situated in the heart of Pune, Maharashtra. Dr. Dinkar G. Kelkar had keen interest in collecting the old historical artifacts from Indian culture. He started collecting the exhibits from around 1920 and later traveled all over the country in search of even smallest of valuable artifacts from ancient India. By the end of year 1960, he collected over 15000 artifacts. And in the year 1962, he decided to hand-over his collection to the State Archaeology Dept., Maharashtra for developing it as a State museum. The Kelkar museum is a three-storey building, which has two wings: Wing A and Wing B. The museum holds around 21000 artifacts of which more than 2000 are on display. Wing A consists of Beauty Culture gallery (Ground floor), Utensils gallery (First floor), Textile and Lamps gallery (Second floor), and Special Exhibition gallery (Third floor). Whereas, Wing B consists of Musical instruments gallery (First floor), Mastani Mahal replica (First floor), Ivory and Toys gallery (Ground floor), Wood work and Sculptures (Ground floor).

Kelkar museum not only holds a great collection of our historical artifacts but it also holds the memories of Dr. Kelkar and his family,who gave away their lives in collecting and maintaining these centuries old day to day life objects. Dr, Kelkar was also honored with Pandam Shri for dedicating his life in contributing to the arts and crafts of India. He gave Indian archaeologists a collection as varied as life itself!

Here I'm sharing some of the pictures of Wing A galleries, will cover Wing B in my next post.

Zaroka - A window at roof or say Ventilator

Wooden sculpture of Dwarpal (Gate keeper)

Vajri Foot Cleaner

Vajri Foot Cleaner

Vajri Mirror

Wooden sculpture

Wooden Wheel of Zodiac Signs

Cords for the Sling : Wood, Iron

Chinese pots

Iron Cart

Round water pot

Textile gallery at Kelkar museum

Leather paintings

Bronze sculpture

Lord Balaji's bronze sculptures

Lord Balaji with Sridevi and Bhudevi

Brass sculpture of Goddess

Lord Ganesha with eighteen hands & Riddhi, Siddhi

Lord Ganesha

Sun lamp

Lamps at Kelkar museum

Lamp at Kelkar museum

Ink-pots

Locks: Brass, Iron

Location Address:  

1377- 78, Natu Baug, Off. Bajirao Road, Shukrawar Peth, Pune, Maharashtra-411002 (nearby Dagdusheth Ganpati temple)

Museum Timings: 

All days of the week (10AM - 05:30 PM)

Ticket Details: 

Rs. 10 for children below 12 years
Rs. 50 for adults above 12 years
Rs. 200 for foreigners (adults)
Rs. 50 for foreigners (children)

Note: Photography charges extra

My Take: 

Well, if you are a history enthusiast and like to know more about Indian culture then this is the right place for you to visit in Pune. Dept. of Archaeology has done a good job in maintaining this museum. 

A must visit place!


Note: Few details have been taken from Google for accuracy.


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The Photo that captured me!

Cute little monks! | Gangtok, Sikkim, India

I clicked my first picture when I was 10 years old. It was a family photo and my father just asked me to press the shutter button. As explained, I clicked the button and when the negatives were developed, the bitter truth of my pathetic photography skills was revealed. There were only heads of my family members in that photo, no body or anything at all. It's a disastrous first photo to remember! After that I started taking tips from my father to capture good pictures.

When I was in 1st year of my college, my father bought a Sony 7 MP digital camera and preferred storing memories in memory cards rather than in a roll of film (with 36 frames). Digital cameras were not common in those days and old 35mm cameras were almost vanished from the markets.With the flexibility of clicking multiple photos at once, it helped me in learning more about photography skills and techniques. My photography actually improved a lot in the span of 4 years of my college. Soon after college, I purchased my very first camera from my own pocket. Since, I needed a good camera with no zooming limitations and other things, I picked the Sony HX 200V high-end point and shoot camera to fulfill my necessary requirements. Soon after the purchase, I started traveling places and capturing things around me. Along with that, I joined many online photography pages on social n/w sites and attended few chat sessions on basics of Photography. From practicing thru gear to learning from e-books, I tried everything to gather good knowledge about photographer's perspective and their frame of mind when they imagine a photo in their head. I must say that even small tips work wonders sometimes!

When I first visited Gangtok, I came across few kids dressed in monks robes and were praying in front of a small temple like structure. I took a photo of them and was moved by the feeling that how on earth these small kids were asked to follow these customs and traditions.In the small age of 6-14 yrs, were they not losing their childhood? their dreams? their studies? I somehow digested my questions that time, but I still feel sometimes that what kind of a life those kids are living. And somewhere in my heart, those unanswered questions still haunts me. So if I have to choose any one picture from my collection for this prompt "The Photo that captured me", then this photo of monks is the one which I believe describes my take on the prompt.

Happy World Photography Day to all the wonderful photographers! :)

 

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Happy Independence Day!

Colors of Nature! Colors of India! | Kolkata,Manali and Mahabaleshwar (India)

Colors of Nature!

Colors of Indians! 

Colors of my Heart! 

Colors of my Soul!

Colors of Hope!

Colors of Joy!

Colors of Freedom!

And above all, 

The Colors of my mesmerizing Nation!

The Colors of an Independent India!

Have a Colorful Independence Day! 

Fear of the unknown!

Fear of the unknown! | Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

The horrendous truth of the Dark India! We often hear stories of rape incidents, but what we not hear often is the stories of those victims who actually faces it. Fear of social anxiety and inner pain not only kills the person from inside but it also grows an insecurity of ending a life. Its hard to imagine that how the rape victims live their lives. But if we take a stand and help such people in building their confidence, then we can surely save some lives. There is nothing better than helping others in their difficult times. So, join your hands and save humanity!

Re-posting one of my old poems with this photo blog post.

कुछ कहती थी वो उन ओझल आँखों से ..

कुछ ख्वाब थे उसके हसीन ..
अरमान थे उसके कुछ बनने के ..
दुनिया थी उसकी बेहद रंगीन ..
छोटी सी भूल वो कर बैठी ..
निकल पड़ी अकेली तंग रस्तो पे ..
न वक़्त का पता था ..
न अनहोनी घटने का अंदाज़ा ..
प्यार से पली थी वो, मासूमियत थी उसकी निशानी ..
पर हैवानो के पिंजरे में फस गयी बिचारी वो अनजानी ..
घुट घुट के सहा उसने ..
हैवानियत का वो मंज़र ..
नादान सी थी हंसी उसकी ..
दूर हो गयी अब हर ख़ुशी उसकी ..
सोचा न था उसने जो हुआ ..
दरिन्दायी का आलम उसने जो सहा ..
कहते हुए भी डर लगता है ..
पर दिल्ही अब किसी के मन में नहीं बस्ता है .... 

 

This post has been written for #CreativeCurves under #BlogOEmotion week

Step into my tiny shoes,Father!

Step into my tiny shoes, Father! | Palladium beach, Goa, India

Step into my tiny shoes,Father!
And let's make a team to beat others.
I know you don't like playing games!
But just for this once, step in with me,

And let's us show the others.
That how good we're as a team!
That how you complete me!
That how you defend me!
And that how you love me!

 This post is written for the #BarAThon blogging marathon at Blog-A-Rhythm.
Suggestions and feedback are most welcome. 

 

The life of a coconut!

The life of a coconut | Gangasagar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Look at my fragile body and you'll see that I have lived my life and now lying alone for a peaceful end.Life was quite different when I was up there along with my mates, the view we used to get from there of the beach and the sea was actually a treat to our eyes. But somehow it all ended! Someone plucked me from my home (tree) and took me to a place, where I never belonged. Later he sold me to someone, who kept me for days and then one day when he saw my faded body, he threw me to the place where it all started (my home i.e. tree). And this is how it all ended! And this is why I'm lying here alone!





This post is written for the #BarAThon blogging marathon at Blog-A-Rhythm.
Suggestions and feedback are most welcome. 

A stranger in our midst..

A stranger in our midst | Gangasagar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

I feel alone when I see people enjoying their lives. In the crowd of millions, no-one bothers to notice me. Even though I'm a part of this society, why I always feel that I'm an unaccepted entity for this mean world. We all share same belief in God, but still people see me as an impostor, because I wear inappropriate clothes and have trident in my hand. I belong to the same community, but still, I feel alone and neglected. But, what you don't know is that. there is someone who always sees me and blesses me, and that someone never prejudices against me. Someone whom we all follow, but always ignore his teachings. Someone whom we call "God" .




This post is written for the #BarAThon blogging marathon at Blog-A-Rhythm.
Suggestions and feedback are most welcome.