An exhibition of rocks, minerals and archaeological antiquities will be organised by the Mumbai University from December 14 to 17 to enlighten discoverers and young learners of geology in the city.
The four-day display — between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. — is being organised by the university’s Centre for Extra-Mural Studies at the Sports Complex in Kalina. On display at the exhibition will be a wide range of collection of rocks, minerals and fossils from around India, Brazil, Europe and America belonging to geologist and collector Muhammad F. Makki.
Dinosaur eggs, teeth and bones, shark teeth, necklaces of dinosaur bones discovered by Mr. Makki of Deccan College, Pune, can be seen at the exhibition. “In museums we see boards that tell us not to touch the artefacts but I encourage my visitors to come, touch, and feel the specimens,” Mr. Makki said explaining that he wanted to create an awareness towards fossils and nature around us.
Vast range of coins
The coin exhibition at the complex includes articles from the post-Mauryan period post 185 BC, Greek inspired coinage ranging from 250 BC to 50 AD, Gupta coins, Kashmir coins, Mughal coins, Indo-French and Indo-Portuguese coins. Also on display are coins used during the rule of East India Company, Madras Presidency, Bengal Presidency and the Bombay Presidency.
Another attraction will be solid pieces of meteorites such as the Martian, Lunar, Stony Iron.
Ancient scripts and ancient Indian board games also find space for display. To make it interactive, artists will also be writing names of visitors in their choice of ancient script.
Mr. Makki explained that very few people actually visit museums. “My effort is to get the museums to people’s doorsteps through my exhibitions and educate the students,” he said. Mr. Makki’s love for the activity overpowers the loss by theft and damage that is encountered.
Many people come with a misconception that the collection is excavated from the surface of the sea. Whereas, not even a single exhibit is from the sea surface. They are all from mines and quarries. Mr. Makki holds his exhibitions free of cost and seeks help only to cover transportation costs incurred by him.
Artefact collection
Vikram Rao, a software engineer-turned- antique collector that he carries out such activities purely as a hobby. He found his first artefact in Bandra, and since then has been valuing excavations. “Till date archaeology has not been tapped to its fullest potential. India is immensely rich in these resources,” Mr. Rao said.
