One fine afternoon at DakshinChitra [Living History Museum].

DakshinChitra Museum is basically an open-air museums where revived old houses portray period life in an earlier era. It is a living history museum of art, architecture, lifestyles, crafts and performing arts of South India. The interpreters act as if they are living in a different time and place and perform everyday household tasks, crafts, and occupations.

I came to know about this place from one of my office colleague and immediately decided to go for a visit by the immediate next weekend.

DakshinaChitra has a collection of 18 authentic historical houses with contextual exhibitions in each house. All the houses bought and reconstructed at DakshinaChitra had been given for demolition by their owners. The authentic homes in a regional vernacular style are purchased, taken down, transported and reconstructed by artisans of the regions from where the houses came.

DakshinaChitra Heritage Museum, a project of Madras Craft Foundation with several corporate sponsors including Nikon and Murugappa group was opened to the public on December 14th 1996 and well built under the supervision of British architect Laurie Baker and Benny Kuriakose.

From My Place called Navalur I have boarded a bus to Sholinganallur and then Tekken auto towards ECR road and again from there I have taken a local bus towards Mahabalipuram and get down at muttukadu the Dakshin Chitra museum is about 350 m from the bus stop.

Below is the  picture of the entrance.

The ticket price  is rupees 50 for Indians and 250 for foreigners students can get a  discounted rate at 30 rupees. video is not allowed inside the we have taken a special permission to do so.  you can click photos inside and the camera charge is 100 rupees.

there are four section where the four Southern Indian states are showcase as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka.

The first section belongs to Tamilnadu merchant house it will be having a distinguish history of Southern India’s trade before the British era in 16th and 17th century. After entering the  structure it shows the details for Kalamkari Textiles and the Golconda Fort. The earliest Kalamkari is a Persian like motif. Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh at become a major port under the Sultan of Deccan and Golconda during the 15th to 19th century. Muslim merchants collected the textile, sugar, Indigo and the formed Kalamkari painted and diet Textiles from interior villages and brought them not only to the courts of the Deccan but also to the Machilipatnam train to Southeast Asia and Arabia

Turkey and North India working with the courts of the Deccan nominated for the trade for many decades and where slowly displaced by the European the sultan’s of the Deck and prized Kalamkari is as hanging for the 10th interior as well as for prayer Mats and for decoration purpose.

This technique was done by using blocks making a set of block is tidious job precise work today only one family in pradhana makes the blocks for the Kalamkari this set of 5 cloth is needed for design you see on the cloth each block is allocated one colour The detailed block outline the entire design usually in black what is an in the villages around Machilipatnam and other areas continue to manufacture of blocks printed Kalamkari Textiles today nearly the entire population of the  Pradhna is engaged in some aspect of Kalamkari production or marketing some manufacturers of switch to screen printing and synthetic dyes to save labour time and cost.

Below picture indicates the ancient and the colonial Maritime trade route of Southern India

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The  1700 and 1800 were the golden years for trade in Kalamkari is the Textiles where used in Sumatra Jakarta and Singapore and other Southeast Asian  countries as they had both ritual and monetary value. In Europe England and America it became and aspirational textile for the accident which country has its own style change as it came to be called by the European was popular for the dresses, bed covers, curtains and wall hanging. Floral and the tree of life design  are adoption from China most popular

Without knowledge of the languages, customs or the location of The villages which produced the goods, European traders were obliged to use Indian middleman who knew both languages sufficiently to trade and communicate with local craftsmen, Producers and traders. this  men were the “dubhasi”

They found buyers for the Merchandise brought to the Coromandel coast for trade and the organised goods at the right price by negotiating their purchase with the producers. Often they finance advances to the Weavers and die making people.  many engaged in trade also. beside Textiles, pearls from Rameshwaram and Diamonds from Golconda were also traded.

Next I went to the Sattanur House from Tanjavur district in Tamilnadu.

This house was in Thanjavur from a Hindu Brahmin Naidu family of agriculture specialist.  the house is typically of many in the towns and villages of Thanjavur district.

the house has been relocated to Dakshin Chitra and reconstructed exactly as it was originally built.  The Original House face not the house had a 2nd Block with two small parallel coated one used for the kitchen and eating and one for bathing except for the foundation this courtyards had disappeared by the time it was purchased in 1994 and cooking was being done inside this house itself The front two rooms where used as bedrooms the right one for the female and the left room for males household valuables where also stored in this rooms the room at the back left was used for storage of vessels and grain and was also the kitchen at the time of purchase of the house the nitro originally southwest facing towards the prayer of Pooja room for karuppan the family deity then write column area East facing house the small shrine for the main deity.  the family the house was bought from Mrs. Suvai Naidu subsequent to building the house the family had a history of working Overseas the grandson of the builder work in Natal South Africa in the mid-1800 and the father of one of the letter owners work in Mauritius in the early part of 1900.

Next, come to the Ambur art galleries where different types of prayer item household item artistic pieces of jewelry and many more have been showcased to the visitors.

Ambur house also a Hindu Brahmin house which was relocated from the Ambur district.

Next, I visited a Silk Weaver’s house.

This house was relocated from Reddy Street Kanchipuram.  the style and form of this house are common to many communities throughout the Chengalpet district.  the colors used are the same as those in Original House. the Weavers used the front inside the room as a bedroom.  it has been opened up as a Gallery. the open backspace beyond the Verandah was cloth cleaning space.

The traditional craftsman including the Weavers does not separate their workspace from their home. The Rolling and twisting of the thread, as well as the preparation of the Loom and weaving, are all done in the main space of the housework activities are stopped to Accommodate any major ritual,  wedding or festivity. these are celebrated in the area where the Loom is installed. the warp is rolled up to free the space for eating and sleeping.

Next, I visited the potter house.

This house was relocated from Thiruvallur village from Chengalpattu district. it represents one of many different layouts for such layout.  The original house was occupied by two brothers and their families still living on one side of the other house with his product kitchen a goldsmith had his works on the front veranda the house depicts the actual lifestyle of the Potter’s with space for living and working the back your original the headspace for cooking and for cows.

Next, I went to the Kerala section.  and I came across the Syrian Christian house This came from Kottayam District of Kerala and the wooden structure was from 1850 AD. The basic features of this house or common two houses of all communities from the earlier Travancore section of Kerala.  The Wood Craft, the underground storage and the general emphasis on storage of foods item the wood in the kitchen the stepped roof and the long veranda.

the distinctive feature of the Syrian Christian house is its layout with the entrance of the house leading directly into the granary. prayers in this house where conducted in front of the granary.  dining room and the kitchen is a sign of the early westernization of the community and the social trend of entertaining guests in a family house. the original house was West facing with Kitchen in the northeast. The Syrian Christian house has been chosen to represent the culture of Kerala Christian who make up  19% of Kerala’s population. this house is representative of the many 19th century homes found in the around Kottayam and its backwaters, where the Syrian Christian community Settled several 100 years earlier. the Syrian Christians wear and R traders bright tradition the deal mainly with indigenous communities like Timber spices and letter Tea and Rubber.  controlled the trade from the nearby mountains and the coast up to Cochin making Kottayam their hub.

According to the oral tradition,  Saint Thomas one of the apostles of Christ came to Kerala Coast and founded Christian churches in the first-century a.d. the present day Syrian Christians traces their roots to those early days. we have proof of the existence of Christian communities in Kerala at the end of the second-century a.d. there is no evidence in the 6th-century a.d. and even more to the 9th-century a.d. we know that groups of Christian traders from West Asia came to Kerala bringing Christianity with them.

Hindu House.

This small middle-class house from South Kerala belongs to an agricultural Hindu family Nairs.  the house is representative of houses in Southern Kerala where the building material was primarily Timber. It differs from the Christian house from Kottayam only in its layout.  the Manor of joinery and wood used is the same in both houses and was standard in Southern Kerala for both the rich and middle class. the curved detailing on the cross boards of this house is of the highest quality.

in Kerala craftsmanship and materials used with the same for all the well to do and the middle class. more affluent families would have added one or even two courtyards in the middle of the wooden structure.  for other activities, they would expect the building, a separate building a small Shrine cowshed and entrance Gateway with storage and a small granary.  if they were very well to do they may have built a separate guest house. most traditional houses in Kerala do not have a courtyard.

Homes in Kerala, unlike Tamilnadu, are laid separately on the lands around them.  they enjoy privacy and beautiful tropical vegetation. A Keralite has a strong appreciation for nature.  the used to cultivate coconut, mango, and banana tree, cocoa plant, and Vines even on the smallest plot of land surrounding his house.  the kitchen to this house was a small separate structure next to the house. all the Kerala houses at Dakshin Chitra that sold to the foundation because the owners wanted to construct modern houses on their land in place of their traditional home.

Next, I went to the craft Bazaar where I have seen a lot of craft and handwoven artistry showcased with exceptional handwork.  the price is reasonable. you can buy paintings stonework flower wooden work or even sketch work.

Letter on  I went to a Karnataka Chikmagalur house built beside the craft Bazaar and it was awesome. And at the last, I went to a Karnataka Weavers home as well as a collection of different motif for prayers according to Karnataka tradition.

Now the main part if you want to reach Dakshin Chitra from Chennai Central to catch a bus from the central station itself you can take  102 or you can go to Broadway and take any bus towards ECR road and get down at muttukadu. From muttukadu it’s a walking distance to Dakshin Chitra living history museum. It took almost 2 to 3 hours to completely visit all the establishment in the museum and have a look at the craft Bazaar.  there are also different kind of live performance used to happen every weekend and you will be lucky enough to see them if you go in proper timings. do check out their website for more details. There is also a food court inside the Museum premises and you can get a veg restaurant outside Dakshin Chitra museum.