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    Time travel: 5,000 years of history in fifty invaluable artefacts on display at CSMVS

    Synopsis

    100 more objects will be worked on in the next two years, & similar exhibits will follow.

    ET Bureau
    Fifty rare artefacts, representing over 5,000 years of Indian history, are on display at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) in Mumbai. Each object has been carefully restored by a team at the museum as a part of the ConservArte project. Another 100 objects will be worked on in the next two years, and similar exhibits will follow.Citibank has joined hands with the museum for the three-year project.

    Here are a few exhibit highlights:


    Terracotta storage jar
    A relic of Harappa, a city of the Indus Valley civilisation, this storage jar is over 4,500 years old. Bits of the jar had broken off and the restorers meticulously pieced the fragments together. As the period predates written history, material remnants recovered through archaeological excavations form an important basis of our understanding of the time.

    Image article boday

    The Storage jar from the Indus Valley Civilisation (Image: BCCL)

    Almost 93cm high with a 248.06cm circumference, this is possibly one of the oldest objects on display at the exhibit.

    Miniature painting of Bhishma Pitamaha explaining the importance of donation to Yudhishthira
    Mughal emperor Akbar commissioned translations of important Indian epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana during his reign. As was tradition at the time, the translated works were accompanied by illustrations in miniature-style. The Persian Mahabharata was named Razm-nama, loosely meaning a tale of war. Although the epic is considered a part of the Hindu tradition, the characters were painted in Persian-style. A folio from the Razm-nama stands out on the wall devoted to the restored miniatures.

    Image article boday

    Bhishma Pitamaha explaining the importance of donation to Yudhishthira in this miniature (Image: BCCL)

    Ivory statuette of Thirumala Nayaka
    The powerful south Indian dynasty of Vijayanagar was established at Hampi (in modern day Karnataka) in 1300s. Around the same time, an army general was dispatched to Madurai to depose the ruling sultan.

    Image article boday

    Ivory statuette of Thirumala Nayaka will also be on display at CSMVS (Image: BCCL)

    The general was appointed in-charge, the `nayaka' of the affairs of Madurai and its attached kingdom. In time, the Nayaka dynasty was born. Thirumala Nayaka was the most well known of this dynasty, and was a great patron of the arts and architecture.

    The before and after restoration images of this 300-year-old ivory statuette are proof enough for such a conservation effort.

    Map of Jambudveep
    According to the cosmologies of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, Jambudveep is the part of cosmos where mortals live. And at the centre of this island-continent lies Mount Meru, atop which is Brahma's abode. The central part of Jambudveep is said to be surrounded by seven concentric oceans.

    An elaborate representation of this cosmology was painted on a cloth around 300 years ago. Over time, this piece of cloth must have been folded up for easy storage, presenting a problem: creases.Running a hot iron was obviously not an option.

    Bone apron
    Some tantric Tibetan rituals use objects and ornaments made out of bones. These are decorated with embellishments as well as figurative designs. Seemingly, these are supposed to remind one of his mortality. An intricate apron of such carved human bones from 18-19th century is one of the objects on display. As per lore, most ornaments .are made out of buffalo bone. Some, like this one, probably aren't.
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