Artefacts from Hyderabad’s Adya Kala gallery find pride of place at Rashtrapati Bhawan

President Droupadi Murmu during the inauguration of ‘Janjatiya Darpan’, a gallery to showcase the common and connecting cultural traits of various tribal communities, on the completion of one year of her presidency, in New Delhi, on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Marking the completion of one year of taking charge, President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated various projects at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The President inaugurated a gallery titled ‘Janjatiya Darpan’ in the Marble Hall Museum of Rashtrapati Bhawan. This gallery was curated by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Ministry of Culture, government of India. This gallery is an initiative to represent the common and connecting cultural traits of various Janjati communities in Bharat.

The gallery consists of different themes such as unsung tribal freedom fighters, traditional natural resource management practices such as Halma, Dokra art, musical instruments, Gunjala Gondi script, agricultural and household implements, Patta paintings, Warli, Gondi and mud art, scroll, masks and Jewellery, metal works, weapons, contemporary photographs depicting the tattoos, diorama depicting an ecological setting and scepters.

The artefacts and objects displayed and curated in this gallery are sourced from Archives of Janapada Sampada Division, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Ministry of Culture, Government of India and Adya Kala Museums (Adi-Dhwani Foundation), Hyderabad. In addition, the contemporary photographs of various Janjatis of Bharat by Satish Lal Andhekar were also displayed at the gallery. 

The gallery has some of the very rare and unique artefacts such as scroll (Koya Pagide) depicting the life history and genealogy of Koya Janjati community from Bhadrachalam. The Koya Pagide was loaned from Jayadhir Thirumal Rao, director, Adya Kala Museums and founder-trustee of Adi-Dhawani Foundation, Hyderabad. Also, the Gunjala Gondi Script along with its detailed history is put on display at the gallery.

During the inauguration, Mr.Rao made a brief presentation of the Scroll and Gondi script to the President. She encouraged him to continue his work on bringing the art and culture of Janjati communities to the limelight.