Siddhagiri Gramjivan Museum (Kaneri Math)
Encyclopedia
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Siddhagiri Gramjivan Wax Museum (Kaneri Math) at Kaneri near Kolhapur, Maharashtra
is a unique wax museum
, probably the only one of its kind in India
. The museum is called ‘Siddhagiri Gramjivan (Village life) Museum’. This unique project is the only of its kind in India and situated at Shri Kshetra Siddhagiri Math. Many people know about Kaneri Math but very few know about this museum.
For those who even don’t know about ‘Kaneri Math’; here is something - It is holy place with a Shiva
temple. It is believed that a Shivling was installed by a Lingayat Priest on a beautiful hill in the 14th century. The temple is beautiful and peaceful with a huge Nandi
. About 500 years ago, a Lingayat Priest Shree Kadsiddheshwar Maharaj developed and renovated it and hence the place is now known by his name. A 125 feet (38.1 m) deep well and a 42 feet (12.8 m) huge Shiva idol is worth seeing.
Take the Kolhapur-Bangalore
NH 4
Travel approx 10–12 km.
Take right from Gokul Shirgaon Junction to go to Kaneri village.
Drive approx 4–5 km to reach Siddhagiri Museum.
language. This initiative was dream project of Mahatma Gandhi
, visually and symbolically created through the vision and efforts of Siddhagiri Gurukul Foundation Trust. The history of self-sufficient village life before invasion of Mughals in Maharshtra is depicted here in the form of cement sculptures. Each sculpture is life-like and has a multi dimensional effect and lifestyle theme. There were 12 ALUTEDARS (12 main profession-based castes i.e. Professions performed from generation to generations by families) and 18 BALUTEDARS, who provided equipments to all villagers to fulfill their day-to-day necessities (domestic as well as professional).
The museum is spread over 7 acres (28,328 m²) area and has almost 80 scenes which showcase more than 300 statues. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and is surrounded with lush greenery. Every aspect of village life has been depicted in this museum. It is a perfect blend of fact, powerful imagination and enormous hard work in getting the life-like expressions of the whole village.
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Siddhagiri Gramjivan Wax Museum (Kaneri Math) at Kaneri near Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
is a unique wax museum
Wax museum
A wax museum or waxworks consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses....
, probably the only one of its kind in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The museum is called ‘Siddhagiri Gramjivan (Village life) Museum’. This unique project is the only of its kind in India and situated at Shri Kshetra Siddhagiri Math. Many people know about Kaneri Math but very few know about this museum.
Kaneri Math
.For those who even don’t know about ‘Kaneri Math’; here is something - It is holy place with a Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
temple. It is believed that a Shivling was installed by a Lingayat Priest on a beautiful hill in the 14th century. The temple is beautiful and peaceful with a huge Nandi
Nandi bull
Nandi or Nandin , is now universally supposed to be the name for the bull which serves as the mount of Shiva and as the gate keeper of Shiva and Parvati in Hindu mythology. Temples venerating Shiva and Parvati display stone images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine...
. About 500 years ago, a Lingayat Priest Shree Kadsiddheshwar Maharaj developed and renovated it and hence the place is now known by his name. A 125 feet (38.1 m) deep well and a 42 feet (12.8 m) huge Shiva idol is worth seeing.
Location
To reach Siddhagiri Museum:Take the Kolhapur-Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
NH 4
National Highway 4 (India)
National Highway 4 is a major National Highway in Western and Southern India. NH 4 links four of the 10 most populous Indian cities - Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. NH 4 is in length and passes through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.NH 4 constitutes...
Travel approx 10–12 km.
Take right from Gokul Shirgaon Junction to go to Kaneri village.
Drive approx 4–5 km to reach Siddhagiri Museum.
Museum theme
This museum showcases different aspects of Gramjivan (village life). ‘Gram’ means ‘village’ and ‘jivan’ means ‘life’ in MarathiMarathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
language. This initiative was dream project of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
, visually and symbolically created through the vision and efforts of Siddhagiri Gurukul Foundation Trust. The history of self-sufficient village life before invasion of Mughals in Maharshtra is depicted here in the form of cement sculptures. Each sculpture is life-like and has a multi dimensional effect and lifestyle theme. There were 12 ALUTEDARS (12 main profession-based castes i.e. Professions performed from generation to generations by families) and 18 BALUTEDARS, who provided equipments to all villagers to fulfill their day-to-day necessities (domestic as well as professional).
The museum is spread over 7 acres (28,328 m²) area and has almost 80 scenes which showcase more than 300 statues. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and is surrounded with lush greenery. Every aspect of village life has been depicted in this museum. It is a perfect blend of fact, powerful imagination and enormous hard work in getting the life-like expressions of the whole village.
Few of the scenes
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- Village priest’s abode: First scene is the house of a highly educated village priest. He performs his duties, rites and rituals like weddings, thread ceremonies and is tasked to find auspicious days and time for any major activity e.g. house building and house warming activities, digging of new wells, start of sowing seeds, pierching nose or ears etc. He earns his livelihood from ‘Dakshina’ (donations) he receives. He consults the ‘Panchaang’ (almanac) for finding auspicious dates.
- Goldsmith at work
- Nailing the bullock with iron shoe
- Barber shop
- Village well: Villagers fetching water from the public well.
- Nursing an elder family member
- Grocer’s shop: Woman visiting the grocery shop with her son. The shop-keeper is weighing items in old weighing machine. Items like jaggery, sugar, chillies, salt, wheat, rice are stocked. The son is asking his mother to buy kites for him.
- Farmer’s ‘Wada’ (house)
- House of ‘Vaidya’
- Grandma stitching ‘Godhadi’ (quilt)
- Farmers ploughing his farm using bullocks
- Shepherd boy with his herd of sheep
- Villagers performing Bhajan and Kirtan (singing Hindu devotional songs)