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A venture of Kurukshetra
University, Dharohar displays a rare ensemble of artefacts belonging
to ancient, medieval and contemporary history and heritage of the
state, writes Narendra Kaushik
IN Haryana, the only culture is agriculture. So they say in half-jest. But a visit to heritage museum in Kurukshetra University (KU) may turn the phrase on its head. For the museum called Dharohar exhibits hitherto unknown and lesser-known facets of Haryanavi culture. Be it music, architecture, fashion, manuscripts, pottery, transport, paintings or woodwork, the museum, housed in a three-storied octagonal structure, displays a rare ensemble of artefacts belonging to ancient, medieval and contemporary history of the state. From a motley cot, which has a Hindu prayer ‘Om Jai Jagdish Hare’ weaved on jute ropes, an indigenous small-window mud refrigerator, tubular wallet men wrapped around their waists in old times, a bullock-driven palanquin, where bride and bridegroom would be carried after their marriage to a community hookah attached with two long smoking pipes that could be rotated in any direction — the museum portrays the richness of Haryanavi tradition. Set up by Mahasingh Poonia, a Hindi lecturer and curator, under the tutelage of KU’s Registrar and professor of Modern History, Raghuvendra Tanwar, in 2006, the museum attracts hundreds of tourists every day. Besides putting on view fashion, architecture, musical instruments, it boasts of a catalogue of all wooden, brass and iron equipments, which have been used by farmers in the state in last few centuries. It also showcases the old Haryanavi kitchen, where women cooked on mud ovens (chulhas), pounded grain in a morlar, kneaded floor in basin plates and placed their utensils on mud ledges. It exhibits old skirts (ghagras), bodices and other dresses women wore in old times. The outfits are decked with beautiful embroidery or mirror work. The museum displays rare silver ornaments and also boxes where women stashed these. It also has a multi-purpose cylindrical box, which was used to store a quintal of grain, water or jaggery. There is an old time-keeping system where a bowl with a small hole in its plinth was floated in a bucket full of water. The bowl would sink in 24 minutes exactly. There are old brass bells, which the farmers used for embellishing their oxens. There are also yokes, winnowing trays, spades, hatchets, forks and other equipments the farmers used for growing crops and fighting with their enemies. A scene from the Haryanavi life is sculpted in the right corner of the museum. A model of a woman is shown milking a buffalo with her calf standing close by. A male is sculpted cutting green fodder on his gandasa (axe attached to a wheel) on one side. Instruments used in a plough and wooden fork are dumped on the other side. It is a life-size depiction of a scene from a cattle enclosure you find in the villages of Haryana. The museum has around 20 sections dedicated to different themes like freedom fighters, folk musical instruments, archeological heritage, wall paintings, local festivals, wells and baolis (step wells), transport, domestic articles, art and craft, folk costumes etc. Interestingly, all the artefacts, displayed in the museum, have been donated and have the names of donors inscribed on them. Poonia travelled around the state to collect these. The university is in the process of putting together a second phase of the museum. Divided into 21 sections, it will show artists and craftsmen at work in actual working environments. It will also have an advanced centre for research in regional studies. The university is also preparing another museum, which will commemorate India’s First War of Independence 1857. This will be the first project exclusively dedicated to the mass upsurge during which many a fierce battles were fought in the Haryana region.
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