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Dakshinachitra is a rare museum. Traditional houses of various communities of South India have been transported brick by
brick and reconstructed at this ‘heritage centre’ on the
coast off Chennai.
Propelled by the energy
to save at least a glimpse of South India’s rich culture,
Deborah Thyagarajan and a few of her associates at the Madras Craft
Foundation conceived the idea of a Heritage Centre in 1990. Locating
authentic samples of architecture, arts and crafts from the four
South Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and
Karnataka proved an uphill task till the day Dakshinachitra opened to
the public in late 1996. Designer architect, Lawrie Baker, chose to
leave the undulating windswept landscape as it was and then began the
process of reconstructing the prototypes of South Indian
architecture.
“It takes us 3 years
just to locate an authentic house in interior South India”, says
Deborah who has personally chosen every one of the houses at the
centre. And once a house is located and bought (for anything between
Rs. 50000 for the simple mud houses, to Rs. 15 lakh for the Chettinad
Merchant’s house with ornate doors and woodwork) a bevy of
architecture students, carpenters and workers set about measuring,
photographing and carefully dismantling the house. “In the
timber house from Kerala every beam was numbered and accurate
drawings made”, explains architect Benny Kuriakose. The
dismantled house is then transported (often in 50 to 60 lorry loads)
to Dakshinachitra. Says Deborah “Reconstruction of the
prototype often costs as much as three times the original value of
the house.” Because most times at least 30% of the timber has
to be replaced and traditional craftsmen and workmen stay on location
for months during the reconstruction.
But then, Dakshinachitra
is as much about these craftsmen as it is about their creations.
Watching them has been a rewarding experience as Kuriakose says, “It
is very encouraging to see youngsters who are knowledgeable and
interested in traditional craftsmanship and building skills like lime
stucco plastering or procession stacking of potiles for roofing even
if they are not commercially very relevant today”. And when the
builders had a problem matching the grooves of a timber house, one of
the carpenters checked with his father who recited a Sanskrit sloka
that states the rule! Also at the centre are two young boys from a
nearby village who work on lathes to create softstone utensils –
Kalchattis – which were in vogue hundreds of years ago.
They, along with the potter, the weaver, the glass blower and others
ensure a steady flow of orders from customers through
Dakshinachitra’s craft shop which is in itself a mini museum of
the varied arts and crafts of South India. “We started the craft
shop with a capital of Rs. 45000”, says Gita Ram, who has been
associated with the project since its inception, “Last year the
craft shop itself registered a turnover of Rs. 10 lakh.”
Relaxing at
Dakshinachitra’s amphitheatre, watching rural folk artistes
perform one realizes that these “interactive” programmes
are the Centre’s pulse. Visitors to the Centre are treated to
workshops by crafts persons in basket weaving, pottery, leather
puppetry and glass blowing apart from traditional fold theatre
performances and festive celebrations like Onam, Navaratri and
Diwali. And for the hundreds of children from the nearby urban and
rural schools who also attend these workshops in the ambience of 19th
century settings “It is a peep into our rich cultural heritage”.
As Visalakshi Ramaswamy says, “We would be successful if these
children understand the aesthetic value – systems and grace of
our heritage.” But, as always, all this requires finance. And
Deborah Thyagarajan’s top priority today is to set up a corpus
of 4 crore to finance these projects. While the Tamil Nadu
Government has given the land on a 33 year lease, the Ford Foundation
sponsors the cultural events, and the Development Commissioner of
handicrafts has given them a 40% grant. Between 1990-1998
Dakshinachitra has managed to raise Rs. 2 crore in personal and
corporate donations. Most of the artifacts on display are from
Deoborah’s personal collection and other collections like the
Lockwoods collection of 350 articles. And as such the centre is only
50% complete with work still to begin on the Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka sections. But Deborah is optimistic “It will all be
achieved even if gradually”, she says. “Dakshinachitra
hopes to bring in more visitors to facilitate a cultural interaction.
On the anvil are plans for a business course for craftsmen, to teach
them to make their skills more economically viable”. And
Deborah would love to see Dakshinachitra eventually move towards
being a Design Centre.
But this is all into the
future. For now, as architect Kuriakose describes is,
“Dakshinachitra is a museum where the buildings and artifacts
are the exhibits”. A repository of the elegance of life that
once was.
GETTING THERE
Dakshinachitra is a 30
minute drive out of Chennai on the East Coast Road. While public
buses ply the route, using private transport will save you a fair
walk from the bus stand to the Centre.
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