Atop Kailasagiri, amidst the greens of the Eastern Ghats and with a panoramic view of the city, is the Telugu Samskrutika Niketanam. At the shore of Bay of Bengal, the museum showcases the history of Telugu culture and highlights its glorious legacy. This treasure trove of history became a reality after 10 years of conceptualisation on November 19, 2015, with the joint effort of World Telugu Federation and Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority.
Before entering the museum, look up at the intricately painted Dashavatara in Srikalahasti kalamkari with natural colours. The ceiling of the rest of the museum has colourful Tanjore paintings. A step inside and you cannot spare yourself the awe of the museum’s majestic grandeur. A cylindrical chandelier made of metal balls in the middle of a large circular hall beautifully contrasts the bright navy blue platform right under it.
Surrounding the platform is the enormous collection of statues of people of great prominence in Telugu history. Most of the statues are wall-mounted and presented with two or three words captions like the court of Rajaraja Narendra, which would mean nothing to visitors who are unaware of the Telugu history. Many visitors just walk around staring at the statues and reading names without knowing the relevance of the depicted scenes. To avoid this and educate the visitors, the museum hosted a light-and-sound show until four months ago. The navy blue platform that can accommodate 100 people rotates on its own axis and the people would be given information about each statue. However, the software on which the show operated broke down four months ago and the museum is yet to see a show after that. “The software has to be brought in from Chennai and that is taking time. We are also planning to introduce audio guides in four languages that would make it easier for the visitors to understand the history. The audio guides might be available in six months time,” says KS Chandrasekar, curator of the museum. Currently, the curator himself explains the historical significance of the exhibits to the visitors in brief orally.
Who’s who
Many life-size clay models of kings, warriors and saints are displayed in the museum. Sculpted meticulously and painted in the most vibrant colours, these are the work of art director, Thota Tharini who took six months to complete the statues. “A committee was set up to decide on the personalities and events that would be featured. After a lot of research about Telugu heritage and culture, the members drew a list of 200 odd events and people who have been featured here,” Chandrasekar adds. The museum is not a random collection, but an evolution of the Telugu culture arranged chronologically from the 3rd Century to 21st Century. The collection begins with events depicting Buddha’s life and ends with a wall-mounted replica of Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. Located on sprawling five acres of land, the museum is surrounded by a well-maintained garden that includes artefacts and ponds. Apart from the statues it also has the sculptures of prominent people from the State like Prime Minister, Presidents, Dadasaheb Phalke awardees and Jnanpith awardees.
All is not well
Despite being well-maintained the museum lacks visitors; reasons being poor means of transport apart from the failed light-and-sound show. Being a pollution-free zone, vehicles are not allowed beyond the entrance of Kailasagiri. The distance between the entrance and the museum is approximately 1.5 kilometres. Luckily you can board the battery-operated caddies if walking isn’t your thing. “When the museum opened, two cars were commissioned, each with a seating capacity of 12 people. Due to technical reasons only one of them is operational. They charge ₹40 for the two-way trip and give people hardly 15 minutes to see the museum. Also, the lack of publicity is one of the major cause why the museum does not see many visitors,” he says.
The museum with entry fee of ₹ 20 and a few visitors is not financially self-sufficient and hence relies on the funds allocated to them. The ray of hope for betterment is the funding granted by the World Bank for the development of Kailasagiri, which will also include the museum.
