State museum to get some prized additions

Have you ever heard of or seen a barrel organ, a musical instrument used by street performers in European countries during 19 and 20 centuries? Well, if you have not, soon there will be chance for you to get acquainted with the instrument.

The instrument, a pride possession of the descendants of Raja Sir Tanjore Madhava Rao, who served as the diwan of erstwhile State of Travancore from 1857 to 1874, will be soon part of the Kerala Museum in the city. The diwan’s great granddaughter, Urmila Rau Lal, will hand over some of the antiques left behind by Rao to the State government on Wednesday.

Ms. Rau Lal told

The Hindu that her great grandfather honed his administrative skills while serving as diwan of the erstwhile Travancore, before moving to the helm of affairs of the princely States of Indore and Vadodara. “History gives enough anecdotes about my great grandfather’s long and eventful association with Kerala. So I have decided to hand over his personal belongings to a museum in the State,” she said.

Along with the barrel organ, other belongings of the diwan that will move into the city museum are a brass sword, a few vessels, spoons, and combs.

The barrel organ was a prized possession of the diwan, who was an avid music lover, said Ms. Rau Lal, who has just finished a literary piece on the diwan titled ‘Statesman Extraordinaire - Life and Times of Raja Sir Tanjore Madhava Rao’.

The book, which is expected to hit the stands in two months, dwells on the personality of the great administrator.