Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (National ... - IGRMS

28 

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 

(National Museum of Mankind) 

A Museum with a Difference 

Kishor K. Basa and G. Jayaprakasan 

Concepts of Museum: A Historical Outline 

A new museum movement began to evolve, world over, in the seventies of the 

20 th century, to re-assure that museums are entities of life and culture of the 

common masses. Until then, these institutions were regarded, by and large, as 

curio-centres of distinct values, presenting the efforts of an elite, or addressing 

their issues and interests. 

Although the British Museum was set up in 1753, ‘museum histories routinely 

trace the origins of the modern museum back to 1793 in Revolutionary France’, 

when the National Convention formally declared that the holdings in the Cabinet 

du Roi and the Cabinet d’Histoire Naturelie were no longer the property of the King 

but belonged to the entire French nation. The name chosen for these and other 

new public collections of rare objects was Museum. The word ‘museum’ was derived 

from a unique vocabulary of architectural design used in the construction of the 

Hellenistic Musaeum of Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. (Lee, 1997). The 

celebrated Musaeum was considered to be the seat of divine Greek ‘Musus’ 

(goddesses) with whom noble events of folk art, music, poetry, gaiety etc. were 

associated. Musaeum was handled by a group of literary and scientific scholars 

and supported by the Ptolemies. The reputation of the Musaeum as a venue of 

knowledge and learning spread through the centuries and became a common 

subject of interest to French scholars during the 18 th century. Eventually, the 

Latin term ‘musaeum’ was used in early modern France to describe the newly 

formed institution ‘museum’. 

In a way, museums were a product of the Renaissance, a product of an 

aristocratic and hierarchical society which believed that art and scholarship were

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya 277 

for a closed circle. In Europe and in most colonial territories, museums and art 

galleries began at a time when the people who controlled them had a contempt 

for the masses’ (Hudson 1977: 7). Many of the museums developed in the western 

world in the 18 th century had inherited this outlook, and remained as such for a 

long. The ethnological museums ‘invented’ by European colonizers in the 19 th 

century, in course of their expeditions to the rest of the world, had presented 

their collection of objects as either curio-items, or as proof of emphasis that the 

culture of colonized communities were ‘inferior’ or ‘peripheral’ to the technological 

achievements of Europe. 

The seventies of 20th century was a decade of crucial developments in the 

history of museums and museology all over the world. This was the period when 

independent countries, including India, began to settle down. New nationalism 

and cultural identities began to emerge among the liberated countries. In the 

newly independent countries, the role of museums began to firm-up during this 

period as important cultural centers for asserting national and regional identities. 

In the 1971 General Conference of the International Council of Museums 

(ICOM) held in France (at Grenoble), an African delegate from Benin, made a 

statement with considerable heat and vigour. ‘Museums’, he said, ‘were not 

integrated into the contemporary world and formed no real part of it. They were 

elitist, and of no use whatever to the majority of people; in all countries, they 

were obsolete; and they ought to disappear so that the public money could be 

spent to better purpose’. There were many takers of this passionate statement. 

The conclusion reached at the 1971 ICOM Conference was that the social, 

economic and cultural changes occurring in the world, particularly in many underprivileged 

regions, constitute a challenge to museology. The future historians of 

museums and museology may well decide that 1971 was the year in which it 

became obvious that there would have to be fundamental changes in the philosophy 

and aims of museums, and that the traditional attitudes were inadequate and 

obsolete in demonstrating the contemporary relevance of museum. It was felt 

that a museum should mould the consciousness of the communities it serves, 

link together the past and present. However, there was no suggestions that existing 

specialized museums should be closed down or abandoned, but, to meet the 

social needs, it was felt that there should be a gradual change in the outlook of 

curators and administrators, so that a steady progress towards ‘integrated museum’ 

might be ensured. Integrated museum approach meant a realization that it exists 

to meet the needs of people, not merely to preserve what the French call the 

patrimone, the national cultural heritage’. (Hudson 1977:15). 

Birth of IGRMS: Initial Ideas and Concepts 

The birth of ‘National Museum of Man’ in India was a sequel of these 

developments. In the Calcutta session of the Indian Science Congress, held in 

1970, Sachin Roy, President of the Anthropology and Archaeology Section,

278 Multiple Heritage: Role of Specialised Museums in India 

emphasized the need of a ‘Museum of Man’ in India, in his presidential address. 

Roy was a senior museum professional from India and was also an ICOM member 

of that time. He had later (in 1972) published a book titled ‘Museum of Man in 

India: Problems and Prospects’ and also made an appeal to the then Prime Minister 

of India, to consider setting up a Museum of Man. His idea was holistic 

presentation of human creativities in Museum, by adopting an inter-disciplinary 

approach. It was recognized, by this time, ‘no single discipline was capable of 

understanding ‘man’ through its single-lens glass’. He felt that an ‘integrated 

museum approach’ would require co-operation between different types of 

museums, research institutes and fusion of disciplines, viz. anthropological, 

ecological, techno-economical, ideological, aesthetic, historical etc. ‘Museology, 

to be worthy of that name must embrace and show itself capable of absorbing all 

these different ways of looking at human activity. Many social scientists in India 

have supported the emerging trend of the integrated approach. 

The 10th General Conference of the ICOM held at Copenhagen (Denmark) 

in 1974 has recognised that ‘museums throughout are coming to regard themselves 

less and less as self-contained professional units and more as cultural centres for 

communities within which they operate’ (Hudson 1977). It was also resolved that 

the museum must interpret the cultural needs of the community completely 

independent of circumstantial factors, with an understanding of the problems 

of the contemporary individual. In other words, the mandates of many museums, 

which hitherto functioned as store-houses of artifacts or curio centres, had begun 

to change as institutions for promoting cultural aspirations of the contemporary 

communities. 

Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India then. Personally, 

she was very enthusiastic about new approaches as and when the scientific 

communities were proposing any new project. ‘She was convinced that no linear 

graphs on a progressive model could contain the dynamics of the plurality of the 

cultural patterns. Neither the archaeological nor the anthropological model of 

the 19 th or early 20 th century would suffice’ (Vatsyayan 2005). M.N. Srinivas, had 

once (1988) remembered, while addressing a group of scholars in the IGRMS at 

Bhopal, how intimately Mrs. Gandhi was interested on the IGRMS project. ‘At 

that time’ Srinivas said, ‘Mrs. Gandhi was exceptionally busy. I inflicted a twopage 

letter on her, and I never expected a reply. But I was surprised to receive a 

reply within a few days from her. It shows how sensitive she was about this 

project. 

The letter was dated July 2 nd , 1974. It read as follows: 

I have received your interesting letter of June 29,1974. Your main suggestion of 

having records of the many aspects of our cultural heritage is one which has been of 

concern for me for years before I became Prime Minister. I had initiated some scheme 

to collect costume, jewellery, folklore and I had asked the Ministry of Information 

and Broadcasting as also the Chief Minister to make films of folk dances and other


rituals. As you perhaps know, I started a folk dance festival in the same spirit. 

Unfortunately, none of these had been followed up as vigorously as they should 

have been. Consequently, we have already lost a good deal. The suggestions you have 

made on the last page are good ones. I think, it should be persuaded. The only 

difficulty is that this year is one of the great financial stringency when every 

programme is being cut to the very bone. However, the setting up a committee of 

knowledgeable people will not need immediate finance, and can be considered. These 

are my first thoughts. I shall write to you later on this. 

(Mrs. Indira Gandhi) 

July 2, 1974 

On the advice of the Prime Minister, the Department of Culture, Government 

of India, had asked the Anthropological Survey of India (An. S.I) to work on the 

project since 1975 onwards and a nucleus Office was started from New Delhi in 

March, 1977 for the project. During the same period a preliminary Plan Outline 

of the proposed new Museum was published, after a series of meetings by experts. 

The Plan-Outline was critical of the biasness of the existing conventional museums 

in India. It said that the existing art and archaeological museums in the country 

highlighted artistic traditions of India, and didn’t tell the story of evolution of 

Indian civilization and about the varieties of cultural life in contemporary India. 

The other types of museums dealing with natural history, science and industry 

convey basic principles of their subjects, but tell very little of the man who has 

created and developed civilizations. Therefore, the idea behind the ‘Museum of 

Man’, would be to present an integrated vision of human life, not segmented 

pictures determined by artificial disciplinary boundaries. 

After a series of searches and deliberations at various levels, it was decided, 

in 1978, to set up the ‘National Museum of Man’ (NMM) at Bhopal, the central 

province of India. A site of about 200 acres offered by the State government of 

Madhya Pradesh, at the ‘Shamla hills’, overlooking the main Bhopal lake, was 

accepted and some portion of the site was occupied by early 1979. The Foundation 

Stone of the new Museum was laid on 21 st April, 1979, by the then Union Minister, 

Dr. P.C. Chunder. By March 1985, the organization was renamed as ‘Rashtriya 

Manav Sangrahalaya (RMS). Again in 1993, it was re-christened as ‘Indira Gandhi 

Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), considering the seminal contributions 

and involvement of the late Prime Minister in developing the Museum. 

The museum-site at ‘Shamla hills’, is a very important geographical territory. 

It is one of the chains of 31 hills in the Vindhyan range, infested with a large 

number rock caves with evidence of pre-historic human settlements. The site 

was once on a 30 mile long stretch of water, created by joining the streams of 

river Kaliasot and Betwa, a water body which was drained in 30 years, after the 

11 th century dam constructed for creating it, was cut, in course of one of the warlike 

engagements in the 16 th century. Today Shamla hills is an oasis of heritage 

related action and research initiatives. About a dozen cultural centres have come


up after the IGRMS began establishing. These include the renowned Bharat Bhawan 

Multi-art complex, All India Radio and Doordarshan, the State Museum of Madhya 

Pradesh, a Tribal Museum, Regional Museum of the National Council of Science 

Museum and a large number of other educational institutions managed by several 

NGOs. 

Museum Infrastructure 

Development of infrastructure for the new Museum was a major challenge. It 

required heavy financial investments and manpower, dedicated scholars and 

visionaries who could interpret the cultural bonds of the country. An Advisory 

Committee set up in 1981, recommended that the Institution should be converted 

into an Autonomous Body, to be managed by a group of subject experts from 

different disciplines and representative officials of different ministerial 

organizations. The recommendations were accepted by the Cabinet Secretariat 

of Government of India and the Autonomous Society named ‘Rashtriya Manav 

Sangrahalaya Samiti’ was registered under Registration of Societies Act, 1860, in 

March, 1985, with the following major objectives to: 

(a) Present, through exhibitions and educational programmes, an integrated 

story of bio-cultural evolution of man with special reference to India, 

highlighting the richness and diversity of its cultural patterns and the 

underlying unity; 

(b) Promote national integration; 

(c) Take steps to salvage and preserve the fast vanishing aspects of Indian 

culture; 

(d) Act as a centre of research and training in museology of appropriate 

kind and generate a new museum movement in different regions of India 

to present and preserve variety of cultural life. 

Individual experts from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, museology, 

folk art etc. were nominated to the governing councils of the Museum for specified 

durations, and representative officials of the central government in the ministries 

of Culture, Home Affairs, Tribal Development, Environment, as also from the 

State Government of Madhya Pradesh were inducted. The main source of funding 

for infrastructure development and education activities were to come from the 

central Ministry of Culture, and the Minister-in-Charge of the Ministry of Culture 

designated as the President (ex-officio) of the Governing Samiti. The Secretary 

to the Ministry of Culture, GOI would act as ex-officio Chairman of its Executive 

Council. 

When the Site was occupied for infrastructure development, the landscape 

was barren, rocky and devoid of any vegetation. There was no water sources in 

the campus, nor any link road to approach the public ways outside. The campus 

was to be landscaped within these constraints. Development of Infrastructure


included: (a) creating roads and pathways to approach the different pockets of 

the vast area of the campus spilled with rocky terrains and hillocks (b) providing 

water supply and electricity to different corners, (c) landscaping the different 

areas according to the conceptual need, (c) developing internal security system, 

(d) constructing office buildings, guest house and dormitories for visiting scholars 

and professionals, and, of course, (e) developing various open-air and indoor 

exhibitions, as per the conceptual plans. It was a challenging task. 

Over a the span of about 25 years since the institution was established in 

Bhopal, commendable work have been done in the area of infrastructure 

development, though much need to be done in coming decades. The campus was 

landscaped to represent prototypes of different ecological regions of the Indian 

sub-continent viz. deserts, coasts, hills, the rivers and the culture of communities 

adapting these ecological regions. The depleted soil cover was partially restored, 

and plants from different ecological zones were planted. Internal road and electric 

networks were developed, and water source was also tapped to a limited extent. 

Facilities for different working units, exhibitions, and performing art theatres 

were also created. Over 20,000 cultural artifacts, and nearly one lakh books and 

journals in different languages were collected. On the basis of documentation of 

activities, both in the Bhopal and other parts of the country, as well as collections 

from other sources, about 3000 hrs of audio-video records of different facets of 

Indian cultures are there in the audio-video achieve. A Southern Regional Centre 

was established by accepting the offer of a heritage building in Mysore (Karnataka) 

in the year 2000. 

IGRMS Exhibitions 

Development of suitable exhibition spaces to display the artifact collections are 

the primary goal of any museum, and the IGRMS was no exception. But, unlike 

other National Museums, which were set up to house certain collections in 

possession, this Museum began not with any artifact in possession, but with 

certain ideas only. Therefore, the task of the museum curators were onerous; do 

a collection and create appropriate environment for its display, besides the normal 

job of classification and documentation. It was decided that the IGRMS would 

be developed predominantly as an open-air museum, and the indoor museum 

would function as extension units to various outdoor exhibitions. 

The theoretical concepts of the Museum initialized at various levels, needed 

to be translated into a realizable plan for setting up the exhibitions. Certain 

broad themes were formulated at conceptual level. After prolonged discussions 

and deliberations at various levels, it was decided to present the cohesive life 

cycles of various Indian communities living in different eco-climatic zones of 

the country. These include those of tribal hamlets, the coastal Indian region of 

the lengthy sea coasts, Himalayan region, river valleys, desert and arid zones 

etc.


Tribal Habitat was the first open air exhibition complex designed to be 

developed on the south-eastern hill top of the campus. Unique dwelling types of 

architectural marvels from different tribal communities were selected to represent 

from the Gangetic plains of Uttaranchal, lush green forest areas of North-east 

India, the arid region of western India, plateau region of central India, hilly tracts 

of eastern India, the Nilgiri (blue-mountain) tracts of south western India etc. 

The initial set of about ten habitats were re-erected, and the Exhibition was opened 

for public in January, 1988. Presently, there are over thirty house-types, youth 

dormitories, shrines and other centres of cultural interactions clustered together 

in this section . These dwellings represent the Warli community of Maharashtra, 

Kutia Kondh, Saora and Gadaba communities of Orissa, Rathwa and Chodhri 

tribes of Gujarat, Boda Kachari, Mishing and Karbi tribes of Assam, Agaria and 

Bhil communities of Madhya Pradesh, Kars and Rajwars of Chhattisgarh, Santal 

tribe of Jharkhand, Jatapu tribe of Andhra Pradesh, Bhumij from West Bengal, 

Tangkul and Kabui Nagas from Manipur, Chakhesang Naga of Nagaland, Reang 

tribe of Tripura, Toda and Kota communities of Tamilnadu. The most striking 

feature of this Exhibition is that the exhibits are life-size dwellings built by the 

different tribal communities themselves, based on their traditional ground plans 

and architectural patterns. The materials which are traditionally used for 

construction in their respective regions, were specially transported to Bhopal for 

creating the replica. Select groups of tribal artisans were invited to Bhopal to reconstruct 

their dwellings and create a genuine ambiance within and outside their 

dwellings. To create the ambiance, the concerned tribal groups did their own 

home-work by surveying their regional hamlets to understand the intriguing 

patterns of structural designs, placement of house-hold objects in each locations 

within and outside the house, collect the sacred plants ritualistic objects to be 

planted outside the house-types. The community groups came to IGRMS 

representing different categories of performers i.e. brick makers, carpentry 

technicians and even priests to sanctify their house-types. They act as ambassadors 

of their community groups. Once the house is re-erected, they would explain to 

the Museum staff how to document the myths and legends of their community 

origin, the different ritual forms, the importance of space distribution, and their 

culinary traditions. They would teach the museum staff their traditional ways of 

structural conservation and other feed-backs for maintenance and upkeep. In a 

way they take over the role of curators of the exhibits, and the museum personnel 

were trained how to explain their customs and traditions to the visitors. From 

time to time they would visit the campus to oversee the arrangements in each of 

their house-types. The museum staff would also visit the hamlets of these tribal 

groups, document their festivities and craft traditions, to display these elements 

in the house-types. 

Today, ‘Tribal Habitat’ is one of the important exhibition premises, spread 

over in about forty acres of land, which attracts a large number of visitors to the


Museum. For researchers engaged in architecture, tribal art and religion, 

conservation techniques, graphic art, as well as administrative planners the Tribal 

Habitat of IGRMS is a laboratory for various practical experience. 

Taking note of the success of ‘Tribal Habitat’ experience, more and more 

similar open-air exhibitions were created to depict the life and culture of Indian 

coastal communities, the people living in desert region of western India, and also 

the lengthy stretch of Himalayan region. In developing the exhibits in these 

exhibitions, methodology adopted was similar to that of the Tribal Habitat 

Exhibition. 

Coastal Village open-air exhibition set up in about 20 acres land, represents 

dwelling units and related material cultural objects from different coastal parts of 

India; viz. Gujarat, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. These are 

typical traditional house-types, representing lifestyles and cultural identities of 

Indian coastal communities. Some eco-friendly structures exhibited in this complex 

reflect the socio-economic situation of inhabitants, like the ‘Arapura’ (wooden 

cottage), and ‘Palliyodam’ (snake-boat) from Kerala, are the main attractions for 

visitors. 

Desert Village open air exhibition represents typical dwelling-types from 

Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. A dwelling complex of Rajputs in this exhibition highlights 

the process and degree of their adaptation with environment. Various ethnographic 

objects displayed inside the dwelling units depict their life-ways and subsistence 

strategies. 

One of the interesting and unique items in the Himalayan Village is the typical 

stone building - Kothi – a dwelling complex from Shimla re-erected in the campus. 

The imposing entrance gate known as Parol or Paraud constructed to protect and 

lend beauty to the courtyard is a reminder of the culture and ecology of the 

terrain of the Himalaya region. The Choukat, another house-type from Uttaranchal 

is said to be earthquake resistant variety. 

The IGRMS is fortunate to have about 30 odd painted rock caves within its 

campus. These have been transformed into an open-air exhibition titled Rock 

Art Heritage. Perhaps IGRMS is one of the few Museums in the world which has 

shelters of the Prehistoric Man in its premises with paintings drawn by the prehistoric 

dwellers. These are valuable assets not only for researchers but also for 

inquisitive general visitors to the IGRMS campus. 

The Exhibition Mythological Trail depicts compositions as reflected in myths 

and legends of various folk and tribal communities. These are crafted in different 

media of terracotta, wood, stone, iron etc. Crafts of various artisan groups, 

incarnations of folk deities and traditional paintings form the main attraction of 

the exhibition. A 12 ft. tall iron gate with decorative carvings, representing the 

origin and technology of iron-smithy (done by Lohars from Bastar), forms an 

imposing structure of this exhibition.


The IGRMS has been emphasizing on collection and documentation of tradition 

based technologies from different parts of the country. Based on the field experience 

to different remote villages in India, a new open air exhibition titled Tradtional 

Technology was developed and opened for visitors in March, 2008. This exhibition 

presents the knowledge or wisdom practised by indigenous communities in the 

utilization of locally available resources to fulfil their sustained way of living. Some 

of the note-worthy exhibits, in this open air exhibition, are Meitei Thim Shungba 

(traditional salt making technology of Manipur), Gangugu (traditional oil expelling 

technology of Andhra Pradesh), Ganna Charkhi (traditional technology of sugarcane 

juice extraction process practised in Chhattisgarh), Tirahi (typical oil expelling 

technology), Gharat, Tui-Changshu, Edullumota (traditional water management systems 

adopted in Uttaranchal, Manipur, and Andhra Pradesh respectively) etc. 

Veethi Sankul-Indoor Museum was constructed in about twelve thousand 

sqm. area with spacious exhibition halls, a reference library, indoor & outdoor 

auditoriums and other miscellaneous facilities, and dedicated to the nation in 

March, 2005. The structure is unique in its architecture, constructed on a rocky 

terrain incorporating difficult levels of the sloppy land. The various exhibition 

halls and auditoriums have been constructed on approximately 16 levels. The 

structure is covered with Dholpur sand-stone, and the flooring is made with 

Kota stones. Approximately 7000 sq.mt. floor area is utilized for exhibitions, in 

10 galleries. These are named as: 

Gallery 1 : Human Evolution and Variation: Presenting the landmarks of process 

of human evolution in different stages through models, photographs, 

charts, sketches etc. Emphasis has been put on the Narmada-man 

discovered at Hathnora in Madhya Pradesh which indicates India as 

one of the theatres of human bio-cultural evolution; 

Gallery 2 : Human Odyssey–Depicting material cultural objects on settlement 

patterns, subsistence and aesthetic activities of hunter-gatherers, 

shifting cultivators, pastoralists, peasants and ethno-medicine 

practitioners in India; 

Gallery 3 : Longo Jatra–A festival of the Koitor life style and festivities of Gond 

tribes of Central India; 

Gallery 4 : Mandwa Gohri – envisages holistic presentation on the Bhil tribes of 

Western India; 

Gallery 5 : Ethnic Art:–Presents the ethnic art of selected folk and tribal 

communities from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan etc.; 

Gallery 6 : Belief Systems, Cosmology and Rituals–Presents ritual objects, 

photographs, masks, memorial pillars, paintings etc. to narrate 

cosmology, belief systems and rituals of different communities; 

Gallery 7 : Music & Performing Traditions–presents music traditions of various 

communities.


Gallery 8 : Masks–Varieties of traditional masks collected from different parts 

of India are displayed. 

Gallery 9 : Textile & Culinary Traditions–traditional architecture, textile tradition, 

traditional technology and culinary traditions are displayed. 

Gallery 10 : Reserve Collection & Research Gallery–A representative collection of 

about 4,000 objects from the Museum’s artifacts store of over 20,000 

objects (till 2008) are on display in a big hall on the lower ground 

floor. This is one of the few museums where a significant number 

of specimens from reserve collections is on display for informed 

visitors. 

An important aspect of these galleries are the active involvement of different 

community groups from different parts of the country in developing the exhibits, 

and its presentation in appropriate environment. Another special feature is the 

life size displays and visitor friendly approaches for visitors’ convenience. 

Museum Education and Salvage Activities 

The Museum began to organise different kinds of education programmes since 

1985 onwards. Different Museum Education activities were designed to develop 

programme packages. These are in the form Travelling Exhibitions on different 

themes of traditional art and community knowledge systems; organizing ‘Do and 

Learn’ participatory training Programme for interested persons on various 

traditional art forms; Organising Seminars/ Camps and Workshops to disseminate 

information on bio-cultural evolution of mankind and celebrate the cultural 

diverisities and national integration. 

The first Travelling Exhibition-Yatra (The Journey of mankind) began its 

journey to Delhi in January, 1986, as part of the annual meet of the 73rd Session 

of Indian Science Congress. This exhibition was an attempt to present, in a 

miniature form, the bio-cultural evolution of mankind and the patterns of 

contemporary cultures in India in the form of a living-museum display. For 

example, a model of an Agaria hut was built and a few Agaria artisans from the 

remote Bastar area of Madhya Pradesh were invited to demonstrate their traditional 

skill of iron smelting practice. Science Congress specialists interacted with these 

tribal artisans and appreciated their technology. 

Construction of an exhibition-structure-Avritti Bhawan–for organizing 

periodical exhibitions was completed by early 1990, and the first periodical 

exhibition Vastu Prasang started at Shamla Hills in May 1990. The IGRMS hosted 

a series of periodical exhibitions, and national seminars in Bhopal. 

Paradigm Shift: Primacy to Communities and Museum as a Facilitator 

The structure and functions of the Museum began to take definite shape after it 

became an autonomous organization in the year 1985. Sachin Roy had envisaged


in his concept paper (1972) that a full-fledged ‘Museum of Man’ should have 

major sections knitted together of geology, zoology, prehistory, physical 

anthropology, social and cultural anthropology, folk and tribal arts, human 

geography, economic and social development disciplines. ‘The concept, he said, 

‘does not mean a multipurpose museum of the twenties (20 th century) which was 

a conglomeration of different departments, each opening its own separate shop 

under a single huge roof ’ (Roy: 1972, 27-28). The Plan-Outline on the National 

Museum Man (NMM), published by the Director, Anthropological Survey of 

India (1977) had demanded the need of setting up a new kind of museum with 

emphasis on putting objects in the living human context, and of portraying the 

general flow of life of the common people, shaped by socio-economic forces in 

the historical perspectives, apart from noting the high water marks of creativity 

in different historical periods. It also stressed the need to develop integrated 

vision of human life rather than segmented pictures, determined by artificial 

boundaries of different disciplines. 

In 1987, two years after the Museum was converted into an Autonomous 

Organisation, a Project Report was prepared during the tenure of R.S. Negi as 

Director, which listed a perspective plan of display in the indoor galleries and 

outdoor exhibitions, under three broad themes of human evolution, variation, 

and patterns of culture. It stressed inter-institutional collaboration, research and 

collection of objects from fast vanishing or changing communities. This Project 

Report and the perspective plan were discussed in the 4 th meeting of the Executive 

Council on 25 th July 1987 which resolved on a committee of experts to discuss 

and rewrite the Project Report. In a comment (1994) on the developments in the 

Museum from mid-1987 to 1993, it was pointed out by K. S. Singh, former 

Director-General of Anthropological Survey of India and National Museum of 

Man that, designed originally to explore the anthropological, biological, linguistic 

and cultural dimensions of all the people of India in a holistic manner, and the 

evolution of their civilization, the Museum was reduced to a tribal museum, 

stressing the tribal material only. However, it may be stated that the active 

involvement of the tribal communities in making the open-air exhibition on ‘Tribal 

Habitat’ certainly makes a departure from the traditional concept of museum 

and display. 

A further ‘conceptual approach’ was developed by a Programme Committee 

under the chairmanship of J. Swaminathan, then President, RMSS and presented 

in the 16 th meeting of the Executive Council (1992). This note questioned the 

conventional approach of ethnological museums, tied to only tribal and analogous 

cultures, and to the portrayal of remnants of such cultures with an underlying 

assumption that these were ‘dead’ or ‘dying’. It asked for a synchronic view of 

different cultures, with an accent of the temporal and spatial continuum of the 

world of culture. It also asked for depiction of man’s relationships with other 

human beings, with time and space, nature and culture, allowing for a to and fro


movement within and between these themes. This conceptual approach was 

adopted by the Executive Council and S. Navlakha was engaged to detail this 

approach into a report for discussion. 

Navlakha’s report (1994) stressed the need for presentation of multiple 

perspectives eschewing a privileged epistemology including non-privileged voices; 

to describe not only past but also present; not only others, but also ourselves; to 

decentralize, destabilize and decolonize essentialist and reductionist narratives of 

culture; to transcend cognitive and non-cognitive fact value distinctions, and to 

offer a dialogical, relativist, open ended view of culture. The report warned against 

mixing culture and biology in the depiction of evolution, and suggested description 

of different culture-scapes, based on literate and pre-literate modes of subsistence, 

as synchronic rather than chronologically fixed points. The report also stressed 

the need for putting the historic periods, specially the last two three centuries, 

and mostly, the 20 th century in the context of intellectual history of mankind, 

with a focus on modernity, ancient literary civilization (India), oral traditions, 

architecture, settlement and livelihood styles, and relationships with environment, 

on community structure, socialization and distribution patterns and on aesthetic 

value and creative expression. 

A comment on this report was about the difficulty of translating abstract 

ideas into three dimensional realities and about the need to carryout the task as 

an in-house exercise. The INC-ICOM National Chapter meet held in the Museum 

in 1994 together with several members of the Governing Committee suggested 

updating the concept and programme content, and the 18 th meeting of the 

Executive Council desired the Director, IGRMS, K.K. Chakravarty, to detail the 

ideas of the concept and display. 

Chakravarty, in his initial notes pointed out that until then (1994) the 

discussions on the concept was confined to the Museum’s task of indoor and 

outdoor exhibitions, and not explored the ways and means whereby the major 

objectives of the RMS Samiti to be achieved, apart from the exhibitions. He 

stressed the need to look into tangible and intangible elements of traditional 

knowledge systems including solution for problems of health, nutrition, man’s 

relation with plants and animal, and to take exhibitions and salvage initiatives to 

remote parts of the country. The IGRMS should widen its spectrum of activities 

to demonstrate simultaneous validity of various cultures; the aesthetic quality of 

local resource based traditional architecture, technologies, arts, crafts and the ecofriendly 

conservation practices cherished and transmitted by the communities. 

The IGRMS, through its display and field programmes, should caution the people 

against unprecedented destruction of ecology. It should propagate the ability of 

folk and tribal communities to recognize, codify, classify, present and use their 

knowledge in harvesting the natural resources; their instinct to respect the tone 

and rhythm of nature and their perception of community rights and obligations. 

It should play a catalyst role between rural communities and the different academic


and administrative institutions of the Govt. for providing local inputs into the 

developmental plans. 

Chakravarty’s notes were discussed in the Samiti meeting on 11 th June, 1997. 

The members agreed that the objectives of the institution and the scope of its 

activities were very much different, and much wider than those of a conventional 

Museum. The members of the Samiti felt that the Museum should deepen its 

initiatives in revitalizing and presenting the variety and plurality of local knowledge 

systems and histories; in demonstrating the simultaneous harmony and diversity 

of the Indian languages in creative expression; in stressing the multi-linear process 

of bio-cultural evolution, away from the Euro-centric unilinear views; in 

dissemination of the knowledge and information among students; in protecting 

community rights, and in strengthening involvement of disadvantaged and 

vulnerable sections of the society in the Museum programmes. 

These resolutions paved the path for a major emphasis in spreading out the 

Museum activities which were hitherto confined, more or less, to a configuration 

of conventional museum, though not wanted as such. In this regard, the 9 th Five 

Year Plan period (1997-2002) was a turning stage in the history of the IGRMS. 

The ‘Outreach’ activities of the Museum surged out to different corners of the 

country. The Government, by recognizing the role of IGRMS as a catalytic agent 

for revitalizing various life enhancing community traditions, enhanced the financial 

allocations of annual budgetary provisions considerably. The Museum established 

direct contacts with different segments of folk and tribal communities in different 

eco-climatic zones, and organized special thematic exhibitions on environmental 

values and life enhancing traditions, and also interactive workshops to promote 

the different traditional art forms and traditional knowledge systems of the 

communities. The ‘Outreach’ activities of the Museum received further boost 

during the 10 th Plan period (2002-07), in terms of increased financial support 

from the government, to do more and more interactive community related 

programmes. The Museum has continued to follow the twin-strategies of ‘taking 

museum to communities and bringing communities to museum’, in order to translate the 

new perception into action. Some of the significant achievements under this 

programme were as follows. 

Taking Museum to the Communities 

To spread awareness on the importance of man-environment relations a new 

traveling exhibition ‘Sacred Groves of India’ was created for circulation in different 

parts of India. This exhibition depicts various methods adopted traditionally by 

different communities in conserving bio-diversity. The exhibition travelled from 

place to place from time to time. The Museum has simultaneously started intensive 

field programmes among various community groups, to document, preserve, and 

disseminate their eco-specific knowledge on management of natural resources. 

A series of such interactions have generated rich data and artifacts, besides a


good collection of varieties of plant-species. Two pockets of the IGRMS campus 

in Bhopal, have been developed into ethno-botanical gardens with prototypes of 

sacred grove shrines, as seen in Bihar, Chhattisgarh (Sarna), Kerala (Kaavu), 

Maharashtra (Devrahati), Manipur (Umanglai), Meghalaya (Maw-bukhar), Rajasthan 

(Oran), Tamilnadu (Kovil-Kadu). 

To promote the traditional practice of health care system and its efficacies and 

continued vitality in advanced conditions, national level interactive workshops of 

tribal medicine-men and exhibitions of their practices were organized in different 

regions, and a directory of such medicinal practitioners was published. 

To promote the literary traditions of ‘marginalised’ communities workshops were 

organized at Kalimpong and Takna (West Bengal), Arakku Valley (Andhra 

Pradesh); Guwahati (Assam) etc. Workshops of Pandits were organized at Himachal 

Pradesh for transmission of traditional texts associated with Tantrik system of 

prognostication and healing, written in ancient and vanishing script. 

Inter-regional cultural exchange programmes of artisan communities and performing 

artists were organized, with special focus on the North-eastern communities, to 

provide them platforms to interact with the cultures of other parts of the country. 

This was necessary to reduce the ethnic tension gripping in different pockets of 

North-east India. Purvottari-festival of artisan communities of the eight Northeastern 

States is organised in a North-eastern State annually. 

To promote traditional arts and crafts of folk and tribal craftsmen Interactive 

workshops, meets of different community groups were organized across the 

country, (Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, 

Tripura, Tamilnadu, Orissa, Tamilnadu etc.). In collaboration with the Kollam 

District Administration and Tourism Department of Kerala, Paramparya festival 

of traditional artisans and craftsmen were organized at Kollam, with participation 

of over 500 tribal and folk artisans from different parts of India. Later similar 

events were organised at Edakkal, in collaboration with the Wayanad District 

administration in Kerala. 

To document and promote the importance of traditional water management 

traditions workshops were organized in Gujarat and Budhelkand area of Madhya 

Pradesh. 

It also supports at various levels in organizing seminars and symposiums to 

motivate the research scholars for exchange of ideas and new thesis. A three tier 

networking has been built up with different state/central government 

organizations, non-government agencies and individual experts engaged in the 

exploration and replenishment of local knowledge and techniques of communities. 

Bringing Communities to Museum 

A number of collaborative programmes are being organized, to motivate the 

different section of communities in appreciating the cultural diversity and national 

integration. Some of them are as follows:


Balrang-An annual festival of School children, is organized in the Museum 

campus, every year, in collaboration with the School Education Department of 

Madhya Pradesh State government, for two days. On the first day, the State level 

(Madhya Pradesh) competition of creative performances are held, emulating the 

richness and diversity of the regional folk music, dance, painting, folk drama etc. 

by the school students of Madhya Pradesh. Also functions of the Judiciary (Bal- 

Nyalaya), Journalism, Theatre, etc. are staged, to strengthen the democratic values 

of the country among the children. On the second day, national level competition 

of folk-dance of different States of India are organized in which about 500 

students from 16-18 States have been participating. In this event, thousands of 

school children take part in different events. A ‘Mini-India’ exhibition is organized, 

by the children from local schools of Bhopal, focusing the regional varieties of 

cuisine traditions, exhibits of important land-marks in the history of India’s cultural 

identity. Different Government organizations like, Archaeological Survey of India, 

Museum of Natural History etc. would also participate with their periodical 

exhibitions, to promote awareness on the children on the importance of India’s 

heritage, both man-made and natural. Children’s literature exhibition are also 

organized by the National Book Trust. 

Celebration of Regional Cultures of India is an important annual event of the 

IGRMS, started in 2006 with Sikkim festival in the IGRMS campus. Subsequently, 

Tripura Festival (2007), Punjab Festival (2008), Assam Festival (2008) have been 

organized. The main features of this event are: (i) exhibition, showcasing different 

aspects of heritage of that State, (ii) craft-mela, (iii) ethnic food and (iv) performing 

art presentation. During the programme, the visitors to the Museum get exposed 

not only to the products of different arts and crafts of the selected region presented 

by a large delegation of State representation, the visitors also derive pleasure in 

knowing about the language, dress, etiquette etc. of the guest artists. The local 

visitors throng in for purchase of varieties of food items cooked by the guest 

artists. By this programme the intangible cultural heritage of different States are 

showcased for respecting the culture of other regions. A notable aspect of this 

programme is the collective involvement of concerned communities, i.e. Punjabi, 

Assamese etc. in Bhopal. 

An important annual event has been started by IGRMS from 2006 onwards, 

titled ‘Shaswati’ - on the Women and Cultural Heritage. In that year, a national workshop 

of women artisans (Sarjana), a national seminar on Gender and Museum (Vidushi), 

first national festival of women instrumental musicians (Prathama), and an 

exhibition on the invisible role of women in the preservation and promotion of 

cultural heritage (Bhumika) were organized. While in Sarjana about 150 women 

artisans participated for ten days representing different craft traditions of India, 

Prathama was a unique cultural festival where 13 celebrated women instrumentalists 

performed in five evenings. They include Yogmaya Shukla (Tabla), Sikkil Sisters 

(Flute) etc. The exhibition, Bhumika, goes beyond the dichotomy of essentialist


and constructivist approach to gender studies. It challenges the stereotypical image 

of woman as confined to home and hearth by emphasizing the role of women in 

various subsistence activities. It celebrates the triumph of creativity of the subaltern 

woman amidst the dreary drudgery of daily life. The display of kitchen with 

utensils of different communities implies multiple cultural heritage as well as 

hybridity. 

Umang: Special programme for vulnerable groups is organized annually in order to 

enable differently abled persons and children to visit indoor museum galleries. 

Since 2006, the World Disabled Day (December 3) is celebrated in collaboration 

with the Department of Social Justice Government of Madhya Pradesh. On that 

day, an awareness rally is organised in the City of Bhopal for the cause of differently 

abled people. Special arrangements are made for the differently abled children to 

visit IGRMS exhibition galleries on that day and present their special items cultural 

programme. Some children who brought laurels for India in the Special Olympic 

in China were felicitated, in 2007. Provisions for ramps and wheel chair have 

been re-created. Labeling on Braille has been done for the benefit of blind visitors, 

to understand the cultural dimensions of displays in the galleries. 

Parvarish: an innovative project was started for slum children with the initiative 

of an NGO ‘Oasis’ whose objective was to introduce museum as a school of 

learning in a non-formal manner. The students were taught in a non-formal manner 

in the IGRMS open air exhibition for two days a week. Other museums also 

participated in it including Regional Museum of Natural History and Regional 

Science Centre. 

These activities received commendable response, and acknowledged at various 

fora that the IGRMS has already broken certain barriers of the conventional 

museum functioning, and that it has laid a new track for a new museum movement. 

Conclusion 

To conclude, the typical features of IGRMS are highlighted as follows. While 

museums generally are set up to house an already available collection, for IGRMS 

the concept came first and collection followed. The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav 

Sangrahalaya has lived a vigorous life of more than three decades, transcended 

some barriers of museum in a conventional sense, and laid new tracks by working 

in collaboration with folk and tribal communities all over the country for 

preservation of their bio-cultural identities and their self respect. It has established 

bridges among different regions and communities in the country, and tried to 

achieve the goal of national integration by establishing contacts with the youth, 

women and disadvantaged groups. Within its modest resources, the IGRMS has 

tried to affirm the fact that the Indian communities, which have lived in harmony 

for thousands of years, may have the answer for human survival in an age when 

there is apprehension of bio-cultural extinction. By emphasizing traditional 

knowledge system IGRMS does not like to romanticize it as a changeless essentialist


entity, rather tries to bring out elements of culture as input in sustainable 

development. Traditional water management, sacred groves are some examples. 

Understood in these perspectives the statement that IGRMS is a Museum with a 

difference in India is not a mere cliché. 

References 

Anthropological Survey of India 1977 National Museum of Man: A Plan Outline. Calcutta. 

Basa, K. K. & Jayaprakasan G. 2007 Srinivas and National Museum of Mankind in M.N. Srinivas: 

The Man and His Work, Rawat Publications, Jaipur. 

Chakravarty, K. K., n.d., Concept Note on Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal 

(unpublished, prepared in 1998). 

Hudson K., 1977 Museums for the 1980s : A Survey of the World Trends, UNESCO, London, Paris and 

Macmillan Press Ltd.,. 

Lee, Paula Young 1997 The Museum of Alexandria and the formation of the ‘Museum’ in 

eighteenth-century, France, The Art Bulletin. 

R. M. S. 1987 Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya: Project Report (Unpublished, prepared in March 1987). 

Roy, Sachin 1972 Museum of Man in India: Problems and Prospects. 

Vatsyayan K. 2005 Souvenir on Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal.


Fig. 27.1: Toda Habitat in the Tribal Habitat Open Air Exhibition 

Fig. 27.2: An Overview of the Coastal Village Open Air Complex


Fig. 27.3: Welcoming the Arrival of the Snake Boat from Kerala by the 

Malayalee Folks of Bhopal 

Fig. 27.4: An Overview of the Veethi Sankul Indoor Museum


Fig. 27.5: Prof. M. N. Srinivas being honoured by Thiru Muthicane, 

a Toda Tribal Leader in IGRMS Campus 

Fig. 27.6: Agaria Tribal People demonstrating Traditional Iron Smelting 

Techniques in IGRMS Campus


Fig. 27.7: Chakesang Naga Artists Performing in front of their 

Traditional House in IGRMS Campus 

Fig. 27.8: Do and Learn Programme


Fig. 27.9: Visit of Differently Abled Children to Veethi Sankul Indoor Museum 

Fig. 27.10: A Priest from Kerala ritualizing the Sacred Grove of 

Kerala in IGRMS Campus


Fig. 27.11: Tribal Healers’ Workshop 

Fig. 27.12: Women Artisans displaying their creativities in 

Shashwati Programme in IGRMS Campus

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (National ... - IGRMS

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