My Top Ten Museums : 2 - Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune
We travel to Pune for the second
museum in my list of top ten museums.
There are two reasons why you must visit
Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum. Firstly, because it is the result of a single man’s obsession
with art. Dinkar Kelkar was a poet and a connoisseur of arts and crafts. He
travelled the length and breadth of the country collecting everyday objects of
artistic merit. Over a period of 60 years, he amassed a collection of more than
20,000 artefacts, and only a fraction of that are on display in this quaint
museum, located in a congested lane with barely any parking facilities. In
1975, Kelkar handed over his collection to the state government and they are
housed in this museum named after his son Raja, who had an untimely demise.
Most notable among the collection are the musical instruments. These include
instruments actually used by celebrated musicians like Pannalal Ghosh, Bal
Gandharva and D V Paluskar.
The second reason is Mastani Mahal, a palace built
in 1734 by the Peshwa Bajirao-I for his concubine Mastani, a woman of legendary
beauty and talent. Parts of this palace has been dismantled and reconstructed
with great care and skill inside the museum. Beautifully lit up, this is a
visual delight worth going many miles to see.
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