Himachal Pradesh has its own traditional architecture which can be seen in its temples, palaces and houses. To show this rich and vivid architecture in the museum, the staff of the museum visited Chamba, Kinnaur, Lahul-Spiti, Una and Shimla districts of Himachal Pradesh in the year 2001-02. And then it was decided to showcase the traditional architecture by constructing a gate.
In 2001-02, construction material like deodar wood, stone for walls, slates for roof and other materials were collected from Shimla and Dharamshala and brought to the museum. In the year 2002, artists from Kangra were invited to the museum to construct the gate under the leadership of Mr. Prem Dhiman.
According to the traditional construction style, wood and stones were joined at an equal distance. Stones were laid on top of wooden sleepers, and again wooden sleepers were kept. The slates were fixed on the roof with the help of nails in such a way that even the strong wind or heavy rain cannot move them.
In front of the gate, people mainly draw the figures of Baba Balaknath, Hanuman, and other deities, so that they can be saluted whenever they enter from this gate.
A huge variety is found in the Himalayan temples so far as making of their crown portion is concern. A mixture of pagoda, Sutlej and Shivalaya style has been used by the artists to make this gate, which combines the architecture of the temples, palaces and traditional houses of Himachal Pradesh. Such gates are mostly known as Parol in Himachal Pradesh. In the Museum, it has been built in the year 2002 at main entrance no. 1.
Aiyanaar Kovil : The Shrine of Aiyanaar:
The exhibit of the Shrine of Aiyanaar a folk deity of Tamilnadu, is an excellent example of the terracotta skill of the Velar, the potter community of that state. An important component of the Open Air Exhibition of the Sangrahalaya was earlier installed in the Tribal Habitat. But after the development of an independent Open Air Exhibition depicting the culture of the coastal areas of the country, it was transplanted in the Coastal Village Open Air Exhibition in the year 1992. Presently this exhibit has been installed near the gate No.1.
This exhibition depicts the ritual and belief of the rural/folk community of Tamilnadu, specifically the southern regions of that state. This exhibit comprises of nearly 150 terracotta figurines of various sizes ranging from one foot to fifteen feet in height. The exhibit is a replication of the Shrine of Tamil folk deity Aiyanaar, who is mostly universally worshipped among the rural communities of Tamilnadu.
Aiyanaar is a male deity who seems to be an exception of general observance that the village deities are always female ones. In almost every Tamil village there is a shrine of Aiyanaar who is regarded as the watchman of the village and is supposed to patrol the village every night, mounted on a ghostly steed, a terrible sight to behold, scaring away the evil spirit.
Aiyanaar shrines are known for enormous numbers of terracotta figurines offered to the deity for fulfillment of vows or to appease the deity for fulfillment of desire.
The Aiyanaar shrines usually have huge sized terracotta horses and other animal figures including elephant, cow, bull etc. They also have large number of human figures which are mostly of Muniswara or the saints. In their actual locations in Tamilnadu village, one finds numerous broken images of these animal and human characters piled in the compound of the shrine.
The horses are special offering of the devotees to the deity, and represent the steed on which the deity rides in his nightly rounds. Aiyanaar is regarded by the villagers as a good and benevolent protector.
The terracotta figurines in this exhibit complex are created by the Velar potter artisans from Mallayoor village of Alangudi taluka in Puddukkotai district of Tamilnadu headed by Shri Rengasami Velar. The Velar artisans are also the priests of Aiyanaar shrines which acquaint us with the importance of potter in the popular ritualistic ceremonies of the region.
According to the folk belief the Aiyanaar deity always resides in a sacred grove, no twig of which should be around on any pretence.
The exhibit of Aiyanaar is not only an exhibit depicting a very important aspect of the village community of Tamilnadu; it is also the first largest independent terracotta exhibit complex of the Sangrahalaya. It is also the first exhibit depicting the folk belief system and myth from a rural folk population, as also it is the first exhibit related to sacred grove in the Sangrahalaya, which is liked and appreciated by each and every museum visitor.
'Kangla' the sacred land which is situated on the western bank of the Imphal River is an ancient capital of Manipur since the reign of the ruling deity Nongda Lairen Pakhangba who ascended the throne in 33 AD.
'Kangla' is not only the seat of political power but also a holy place for religious worship and ceremonies. It has four gates guarding the palace in four directions.
The present exhibit is a prototype of the famous western gate Sanathong that carries key historical, social, architectural and religious elements of Manipur.
The invention of pottery is the next revolution in history after man's appearance on earth. It is considered one of the most tangible and iconic elements of regional and cultural art. The occurrence of pottery is generally attributed to the beginning of settled life. It is considered to be an important index not only to date the ancient cultures but also to identify them.
Therefore, the study of pottery through the ages is considered to be an essential requirement to identify, understand and characterise the ancient civilizations. Early evidence of pottery making is noticed in the Indian Subcontinent at Mehrgarh (Neolithic) nearly 8,000 BCE. While culturally, the Vindhyan region has yielded the ceramic remains of the Mesolithic period reported from BaghaiKhor (Dt. Mirzapur, U.P) and Langhnaj (Dt. Mahesana, Gujarat), small bits and pieces being found which are evidence of entirely handmade pottery.
Besides this, pottery has been excavated from various archaeological sites from different cultural levels (Neolithic to medieval period).
The pottery-making tradition is still continuing in India. The potters of different areas are practicing the inherited skills of their ancestors. In the last three decades, ethnographical and ethno-archaeological research has been conducted in various parts of the country.
In these studies, the researchers are trying to identify the technological changes from past to present times. It is also noticed that the traditional techniques like hand beaten, wheel thrown, moulding over an old pot and many ways of hand modeling like coiled method, slab pattern, and a combination of both wheel-turned and hand-beaten, still survive in some of the parts, particularly in rural areas where demand is almost same as compared to the past.
This open-air exhibition is entirely an outcome of the past years of pottery and terracotta workshops organized by IGRMS. In different phases, potters from different parts of India were invited to IGRMS and asked to present their skills and make traditional pottery and terracotta, which are now part of an open-air exhibition “Kumhar Para” (potters’ village).
Data is collected from primary sources through direct interviews of potters and audio-visual documentation of pottery-making processes.
The present Exhibition endeavours to present a brief ethnographic account of pottery traditions of different parts of India, specifically Assam, Gujarat, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. It explains about the community, i.e., the population of people involved in pottery; their associated socio-economic facets, transfer of the traditional knowledge system, beliefs, rituals and technique of production, and their consumption in terms of a continuing tradition.
I.G.R.M.S. is emphasizing on documentation, preservation, dissemination and revitalization of cultural heritage. It is felt that along with the different open air exhibitions an exhibition on traditional technology is a need of this hour.
As a result a separate open air exhibition had been developed to make the people aware of the traditional technological diversity in our country. The simple societies have developed different technologies over a period of time for the fulfillment of their each and every need which they have inherited and sustained from their forefathers.
In modern society the introduction of modern technologies have affected the importance of traditional technologies. But throughout it is accepted that the traditional technologies have played an important role in the invention of modern technologies.
This exhibition is an outcome of communities' involvement effort and to exhibit the traditional technological objects from various parts of the country in one place with a view to provide information to the public about technological knowledge and skills of rural and tribal communities.
The dawn of culture witnessed the beginning of acquisition of technological knowledge by the humankind. The beginning might be termed as simple in comparison to the modern and advanced technologies the humankind has developed, but when the first tool would have been shaped and used by men, that beginning is still the first and most important achievement in the technological history of humankind.
Today in an age when we are blessed with the gadgets of technological revolution for fulfilment of our each and every need, there are also people in country who still pursue various kind of works related to their needs of life and profession through the technologies they inherited from their preceding generation.
In pre-industrial period and later for hundreds of years also Indian peasants have invented and shaped various gadgets for meeting various requirements. The easy availability of modern technology has though made this traditional technology more or less insignificant or redundant, but we salute the people who had invented them.
They were the technologies which gave sustenance to the people for hundreds of years. Besides, such technologies are eco-friendly in nature.
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya has made an effort to collect these objects related to traditional technology from various parts of the country to develop this exhibition, through which we wish to tell the visitor about the intelligence and creative genius of simple societies.
This is also meant to broaden the perspective of the visitors by emphasizing the fact that traditional technologies contribute an important background to the technological splendour of the contemporary world.
To sum up, this exhibition, in fact, is a celebration of the intangible heritage of India.
Widely available Rock Art, due to its aesthetic element, variety and ease, looks beautiful and attractive at the very first sight. From the point of view of relations, it is directly related to the past of every human being, even if people are unaware of it.
Most of the rock art sites are in remote and inaccessible areas. Although it has not been possible to fully understand the ancient rock art created even outside the purview of art, it is a widely accepted assumption that its meaning must have been very wide. Watching the Rock art gives pleasure as well as intellectual challenges.
The rock art available in the Indian territory has an unparalleled importance because it is still present in a unique and proud condition created by the continuity of cultural traditions in this region. Due to this, it (Rock Art) has got a material status of heritage in modern Indian culture.
Rock art is such a unique cultural heritage that is an integral part of the prehistoric story of the cultural evolution of mankind. Early rock art was created at a time when the world was not as divided in the complex political boundaries as today. Although there were natural barriers but there were no countries, states etc. Man lived the life of a hunter-gatherer, he did not try the possibilities of farming anywhere. At that time there were no villages, the populations were probably nomads and settlements where in an environment dominated by animals and full of vegetation. But at that time cultural diversity was dominant and rich.
The last ice age was at its end, snow was being removed from very cold places, and new vegetation was beginning to grow. In the Central India region, then certainly the temperature would have been a little lower than today and there would have been plenty of vegetation. Those animal species would also have lived in them, due to which we have become accustomed to their absence today due to their complete extinction from this area. Those animal species would also lived here of which we have gone accustom just due to their long absence.
The art created then is in some sense related to the entire humanity, the ownership of which has been established long after the respective cultures have disappeared. Such an art is becoming part of it as it is assimilated by today's cultures, connecting different modern cultures and societies into a single thread on the basement of humanity. Rock art is its cultural heritage available to the entire humanity, which is to be handed over to the coming generations in an intact state as a succession.
Due to the unprecedented increase in human activities over the past few decades, the rock art heritage, which has been preserved for thousands of years, is suddenly coming in such a critical state of conservation that it can only be saved. The damage is mainly caused by ignorance and ignorant human behavior, in which an short sure solution is to deal further, is to return the respect to this heritage through communication of complete information. Since information gathering and documentation work on the subject of rock art is possible with the active cooperation of the general public on the basis of common sense and developed interest and knowledge from many perspectives, people in many countries have adopted it as an additional area of interest. The challenge and joy inherent in exploring the unknown has been attracting people to rock art in India as well. The continuous growth of more clear information on rock art is being made possible due to the increasing interest of many scientific subjects in it.
Whatever may be the area of personal interest of the general viewer, the beauty of rock art and the challenging questions available in its content presents to all, apart from some pleasure on the intellectual plane.
Since anthropology studies mankind as a whole and study of human evolution, culture and society are its conventional disciplines, the availability of rock art is important to this subject. This ancient art is regarded by anthropologists as the material culture of ancient populations and the cultural messages they left behind. Their study not only add lifestyle mindset, customs, ethos and worldviews of that archaic populations, but also provides a much broader scientific basis for the folk societies and cultures of the modern era.
Rock art is an object of material culture, but it cannot be collected and kept in museums. Its contextual presence is anyway the best way from the point of view of the viewer. It is fortunate that rock shelters are present in the premises of this museum.
Rock shelters are available in four groups in the museum complex. There are 5 on Prempura hill, 18 in two groups located behind the regional college, 2 painted rock shelters near the drain nearby guest house located at eastern side. In the present phase of the exhibition, 11 rock shelters of a group located behind Regional College have been included. The paintings of these groups have their own mutual and different characteristics, however they are in some ways similar to, related to, other sites in the region.
Due to its proximity to the city, the continuous movement of people to this site in the last decades and the destruction of forests, the condition of conservation of the paintings seems to have deteriorated greatly. In many places, the pictures have reached a nearly erased state due to the effects of rain, sun and wind. The top surface of the rocks on which the painting was done is not in good condition. Due to this many images that would have been important in compositions are now only partially available. Like other places, paintings have been done on each other at this site too.
Presentation in 'Rock Art Heritage Exhibition organized by Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya has been done in two parts, first the introduction of rock art subject in the indoor gallery and the variety available in it is presented through samples pictures available in many places. In the second part, help has been provided to the viewer through exhibits to understand the paintings in many ways in the presentation of the original paintings present in the museum premises.
The archaeological relationship of paintings is mainly to hunter-gatherer populations and animals associated with domestication or pastoral populations, which appear to belong to the Mesolithic and Chalcolithic periods respectively. Based on the subject matter of human figures, animals and the combinations reflecting their interrelationships, it can be presumed that rock shelters were used by different cultures at different times with different cultural meanings. In ancient times the user did not have to go far from this site.But it is not known from clear evidence that the rock shelters should have been a place of constant living.
Presumably, some rock shelters would have been given priority for the purpose of ritualistic functions, this can certainly be said on the basis of the association of most of the paintings to a larger subject matter in each of these rock shelters. Within the broader themes such as group activity, religious rituals, etc., the short references are intertwined somewhere, but consisting of differences. On the other hand, in some rock shelters the paintings of animals figures, human are mostly solitary rather than organized in combinations. In such depictions, the intentions seem not to be collective, but to the individual.
Rock shelters have been related to such populations which used microliths. This is evident from the availability of such instruments from rock shelters. Populations using Palaeolithic tools may have been present in this site during much earlier times. Estimated on the basis of receipt of such equipment received from this surface, it indicates the continuity of human presence. The pictures at this place are very similar to the pictures of other places located nearby, due to which it seems that the population present here might be having movement.
The deposition of rock shelters is in two levels of land formation. Rock shelters are naturally formed in conglomerate or sandy rocks. There must have been a dense forest here and there must have been availability of wild animals in it. Animals like wild boar and still porcupine have been present till recent past. Certainly at the time the initial painting was composed, the weather would be quite different from today. Rhinocers is not found in this area nowadays, it must have been available around that time. This is shown by a picture of rock shelter number 17.
Masked human figures and pictures of women engaged in different activities are available in shelter No. 22. These being marked in different styles, they can be considered to belong to different populations. Human figures in early paintings are made of lines. Male figures are made in lines with exaggerated lengths, but females in thickness are shown to be relatively stunted. In shelter No. 21, human figures are inscribed in a group connected to each other in a dance posture.
The pictures of animals in this rock shelter are lonely, no where in the state of hunting is visible. It seems as if the use of rock shelter was for such purpose and to convey the meaning associated with it, in which the position of women must have been secondary to men but functionally important to the group.
There are 75 such human figures in this rock shelter, which are depicted in different dynamic postures, although gender discrimination is not visible in it, however, it can be said that this rock shelter must have been related to some such collective activity in which the conditions of dance and frenzy would have been created. Due to the small size of human figures, it seems that the importance of the group as compared to the individual would have been more at that stage. It would be some ritual activity that had to do with the weather. In this rock shelter, a picture shows a peacock spreading its wings.As can be seen in the beginning of the rainy season, it is possible that the group activity is also related to some ritual of this season.
Due to the low ceiling, there is no such place in the rock shelter it would be more convenient to see the paintings while sitting or laying position. A big deer is depicted on the ceiling. Seeing the similar position of the paintings in some rock shelters, it can be wondered whether the pictures of lonely animals were painted in such a way that they were not directly in front of the rock shelter, for some purpose to hide them from sight. In this context, the discussion of the rainy season rituals of a tribe of Bastar is relevant here. This ritual is done to please the forest deities.A similar tradition is also possible among prehistoric populations.
The diversity of human figures depicted below the waist covering, masks, and headdresses suggests that these early paintings may have been important to the building populations. For some purpose they must have been present in this area at the same time. In such a situation, the marking of identification marks would have had community significance. Whether those populations also used methods like tattooing, body painting as seen in many tribes is not clear anywhere further in the picture. But counter test is useful in this direction.
Most of the pictures are in several shades of red and white. The yellow color images are in rock shelters no. 23 and 15, while the green ones are available in many rock shelters indistinctly from the lowest surface.
Although other rock shelters also have images related to hunting, the painting in rock shelter number 16 is particularly notable for its sharpness and type of weapons, in a combination between the figures of 5 reindeer and two buffaloes depicting a masked hunter with a bow and a bow in one hand. In the other hand is an arrow whose arrow head appear to have been made by trapping micro-stone tools, the hunter has ornaments on the same position in both hands.Seeing a lonely man among the animals with ornaments and decorations, it seems that he must have meant to represent a particular person or hero. The image may have been depicted on the occasion of hunting or any ritual related to animal wealth in which the hero or analogous divine force is of significance.
In rock shelter 18, relatively large pictures of a large number of animals are inscribed almost all over the ceiling, most of which appear blurred due to the accumulation of black layer, despite the number of animals being more in one place, the animal figures appear attached to each other for relation. Here a human figure is depicted carrying some tubers in a wooden career placed on the shoulder related to storage. A second style and a later Chalcolithic composition in the same rock shelter depicted by two human figures hunting with arrows at different locations, which can be considered to belong to a different population or culture based on the masked horned human.
Ritual: There is a repetition of the same subject matter in three different composition at one place of shelter number 15. In which, a human figure is shown in a standing position and another figure intersecting it is shown lying on the ground. Nearby is another human figure, relatively stunted, in a standing position. It is as if the living person is standing and the dead person's body is lying on the ground. All three composition are in the same style.
The paintings of shelter No. 12 are of metal age. It is intuitively said on the basis that the human beings depicted here have metal-headed arrows in their hands. Collected items are shown hanging and being carried away together. Nearby a human figure is shown holding the tail of a hunched cow. Depending on the subject, the picture can be thought of as belonging to a pastoral population that wore ringed ornaments, some kind of crown on the head and some kind of clothing.
The picture appears to be related to some Vedic concept or some ritualistic ritual based on it. Two possibilities can be expressed in this regard. For example, if an important proud member of the group is going on a pilgrimage, during which there is a thought of going to the shrine and crossing the Vaitarni. There should be a community effort to get the second posthumous person's self crossed.It is said on this basis that the man depicted next is presented with a gloriously iconic image, in the second figure nearby, in the thought that he is grasping the end of a cow's tail and crossing a styreni. Traditionally, this practice is displayed in the form of concept and ritual even today in the work related to death.
The house, universally plays an intermediary role between the human beings and their world and as such is to be such is to be recognized as a powerfully material cultural institution. This is nowhere to be so strongly felt as in the case of tribal populations. The tribal dweiling has a communicative significance of built form. It is generally built “On a human scale by human skills for human needs”.
The tribal populations of India have varied models of subsistence. Some are still in the hunting gathering and foraging state while others follow nomadic mode of life including nomadic pastoralism and transhumance, yet still others practice rudimentary agriculture, including swidden cultivation. The two factors, that of external environment and subsistence technology determine the character of tribal dwelling and the architecture.
The tribal habitat represents some of the tribal dwellings from different part of the country. The selection of populations represented was based primarily upon to highlight the adaptive relationship of subsistence activity to its environment as well as some characteristic of the tribes. The exhibition also aims to highlight the simple but highly functional and efficient structures that the tribal populations construct using indigenously available material in the scarce resource situation. These dwelling unit are not simply shelters or storages but vital cultural institutions around which the entire life-cycle of the people is woven.
Right from the early stages of civilization till now habitat is one of the basic necessities of human kind. It is unique and vivid manifestation of human imaginations, knowledge and skill which narrates his/her distinct ability of adaptation with time, space and ecology. Amazing house types collected from remote Himalayan states of India and reinstalled in the “Himalayan village” open air exhibition of Manav Sangrahalaya are the example of the same.
The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) presents Mythological Trail, an open-air exhibition based on the folk and tribal myths of India. Established to preserve and document disappearing traditions, IGRMS brings together the voices of communities through art, showcasing their worldviews, beliefs, and rituals.
The exhibition features 38 exhibits created by around 60 artists using materials like clay, stone, brass, terracotta, wood, and paint. The artworks are organized around the themes of creation, sustenance, and destruction, highlighting the essence of tribal and folk life.
This unique exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience myths and stories as narrated and visualized by the artists themselves, bridging the gap between oral traditions and contemporary understanding. It emphasizes the rich diversity of India's tribal and folk cultures, while also celebrating the unity of human imagination and creativity.
The Narmada River, flowing across central India, holds deep cultural and spiritual significance for the communities along its banks. Known as 'Narbada Mai' by the Gond, Pardhan, and Baiga adivasis, the river is not just a natural entity but a living symbol of faith, stories, and cultural identity.
This exhibit highlights the Adivasi traditions and folk stories from the Narmada river valley, especially near its source in Amarkantak. Artworks, mainly clay-reliefs, were created by local Adivasi artists during workshops organized in their communities and at IGRMS. These works depict the myths, beliefs, and rituals of the people, portraying the river's cultural personality through the lens of local art and storytelling.
The story of “Narbada Mai” recounts how the river is revered as a protective and powerful feminine presence, deeply embedded in folk narratives. Through these artworks, visitors experience the timeless flow of faith, myth, and cultural imagination that the river inspires, offering a unique window into the Adivasi worldview.
The Coastal Village exhibition of the Museum tells the story of the cultural diversity of communities living in India’s nearly seven and a half thousand kilometer long coastline. The exhibition was inaugurated on May 25, 1992. In this exhibition an attempt has been made to showcase the cultue of the communities living in the coastal areas of India through their few selected house types. To create a backdrop of the coastal environment, this exhibition has been developed in an area of about 20 acres in the museum complex on the bank of famous Upper Lake of Bhopal. The main attractions of this exhibition are Naalukettu and Arappura, wooden houses built without the use of iron nails collected from Kerala, Fishermen’s settlement made of coconut leaves, Mirdhabari, the traditional abode of fishermen from Ganjam district of Odisha, about 110 feet long Snake Boat collected from Kerala, Bhadrakali Ambalam temple and Gudeessa, the traditional abode of fishermen from Andhra Pradesh. Fairs and festivals, workshops, programme of performing art presentation gives vitality to the exhibition. Cultural characteristics and presentations from communities living in coastal areas will be added continuously to maintain the dialogue with them and to enrich the exhibition.
The geographical vastness and environmental diversity of the Indian subcontinent is unique, which is also a major factor in determining the culture of the communities inhabiting in this regions. The Desert Village open air exhibition of the museum seeks to showcase various aspects of the cultures of people living in desert regions of country, especially the Kutch region of Gujarat and Rajasthan through their house-types. The houses of Rabaris, a semi-nomadic pastoral community from the Kutch region of Gujarat, differ from other houses because of their unique traditional mural craft, made of mud, sand, wood and grass. Rabari do beautiful embroidery on cloth by using mirrors and threads of different colors. Similarly they also decorate the walls, the granaries and the almirahs by using mirrors and clay mixed with camel dung. The lack of greenery in the dry desert is filled with colorful clothes and murals by them and this is the hallmark of desert life. Adjacent to the Rabari complex is the house type of the artisan community of Banni area in the Rann of Kutch. On one side of this exhibition is Neem Ki Dhani (mud house) made of mud, Kairwood and grass suited to the desert environment of Rajasthan and on the other side is Haveli of Paliwal community and Cenotaph made in yellow sandstone in the memory of ancestors. The complex motifs have been skillfully carved in yellow sandstone by the local artists. Live presentation of these cultures through ethnic cuisine, lifestyle, fairs and festivals from time to time is also a part of the exhibition.
Nature worship is an ancient Indian tradition existing since time immemorial. Sacred groves in India also known as the “Gardens of Gods” are consisting of natural vegetation of the locality and the associated supernatural power. IGRMS is also dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of life enhancing cultural elements. The museum has made a special effort for recreating sacred groves from different ecological zones of India in its campus. Today also in rural areas it is believed that the nature provides them the livelihood therefore the nature is worshiped of which sacred grove is a component or a part of life and culture of the rural people with a belief that their gods and spirits of ancestors lived in these groves. These groves are known by different names in different part of the country.
The museum has installed eight sacred groves in its premises campus with the help & support of the community representing different parts of the country.
Sacred groves are a group of naturally grown vegetation dedicated to deities and ancestors by indigenous communities. It may include mixture of various plant species or cluster/groves of same species. It depends on cultural and botanical history. Sacred groves are so important because cutting or even plucking of leaf of the respective plant/tree is not permitted, besides even animal’s inhabiting in that periphery are also not harmed. It is also mentioned that each of the sacred grove is worshipped by related locales once in year.
Majuli is an island of the mighty river Brahmaputra, Assam. Majuli has been reckoned as one of the important nerve centers of the Neo-Vaishnavite Movement that awakened in the later period of the 15th Century CE. In the history of Assam, Majuli is remembered for the historic meet of the Srimanta Sankardeva and his foremost disciple Madhavdeva in the 16th Century CE, and this event is reckoned as the Manikanchana Sanyog that propelled the neo-Vaishnava movement in the Assam. It is said that Sankaradeva established the first institution Satra on the island by planting a Bilva tree and naming the place as the Belguri.
In this episode, an architectural grandeur and cultural meanings of Karapat with reference to the prototype of the magnificent gate from the Kamlabari Satra, established in the Museum premise in the year 2019 is presented.
It is an attractively decorated massive gate that stands at the entrance of Satra- a Vaishnava Monastery, associated with the Vaishnava concept of Bhakti or devotion. Some Karapats are attractively painted, while some other Karapat appears to have been painted with a single color. Karapat from one Satra to the other may structurally differ in terms of their architectural patterns, but the core meaning of the use of Karapat as a devotional entity remains the same. Although those structures of the 15th or 16th Centuries have transformed into concrete structures, one can still find the elements of these ancient but massive wooden structures of pillars existing in the Namghar of Majuli Satras today.
Naamasingha is an expression that represents the name of Lord, whose divine power and benign presence are ever supreme to all the supremacies that gives the moral that the name of the Lord is like a powerful Lion in the jungle who can even overpower the mighty elephant. Therefore, Mahapurush Shrimanta Sankardeva, the founder of neo-Vaishnava in Assam, conjugated this highly expressive symbolic statue to the power of Naam Bhakti (the devotion of reciting the name of Lord) and it became a prominent attraction of the Karapat and a symbol of the Vaishnava culture of the Satras of Assam.
The horizontal top of this Karapat represents a Khelnao, the traditional boat used in speedy transport or a boat-race. According to Bhagatas (monks of the satra), Khelnao (boat) represents the Earth sailing on the time of a cosmic ocean, uncertain about sinking into the depth of sinful acts and evil thoughts carried by the humans. A sincere devotion to the name of the Lord can protect and overcome the sink in this cosmic sail to reach the heavenly life. The lateral ends of Khelnao have symbolic figures showing a Crock like a creature swallowing half the fish's body that symbolizes the human whose mistake may befall into the mouth of deadly creatures (sin) and Bhakti (devotion) with the name of Lord is believed that Khelnao is the only path to the truth and bliss”.
Inside the Naamghar (Prayer Hall) of the Satra (Vaishnav Monastry), a huge Singhasan of the colorful and multitiered wooden structure is installed for Prayer. Among all the Satras, Singhasan carries the highest Bhakti of the recitals to the name of the Lord. According to the Hindu belief, the Singhasan is shown standing on the Tortoise, representing the Earth. The seventh tiered Singhasana represents Sapta Baikuntha, the seven celestial abodes of the supreme Lord.
It appears that the Karapat is not merely an architectural form of a gate in the Vaishnava Monastery; it carries meaningful expressions of human creativity evolved with an institutionalized set up of the socio-cultural life of the people who preach neo-Vaishnavism in this river-island Assam. Although the symbols used in the Satra institution are religiously ordained, it disseminates a disciplined social life, harmony, and integrity.