A memoir of building museum

Ganesh Pandey
Student of Nepalese history, culture and Archaeology

On a fine Friday morning, we, the TU Culture master’s students and respected lecturer and musicologist, headed towards Piprahar. Piprahahar is a village in Nawalpur district of Terai located in the bank of Narayani river. Local legends say the jungle tribal people Tharu deforested the Pipal tree forest for settlement and hence the name is given. Zealed with enormous passion upon working in cultural sector of different ethnical clans of Nepal, we were privileged to work for Tharu- Magar museum building from the scratch. It is a practical learning experience under the course of Museology within the curriculum of Nepalese History, Culture and Archaeology, third semester.

The task was to learn documentation of collections of museum materials and antiquities belonging to Tharu and Magar communities living in that area.

After some quick sip of tea at the local cafe in Kalanki, our van arrived and we all hop in with great excitement except the van was super warm inside even with the cooler turned on. Our very own charismatic lecturer Pashupati sir came up with a classic entertainment idea of traditional driving game ANTAKSHRI, which is off course, by default not to miss Nepali travel game. All of us were singing our heart out loud and the van needed no cooler then. A quick breakfast on the Naubise roadside was quite memorable as we shared our home cooked food. After breakfast, some of us took quick nap while others were enjoying history-culture talks. After six hours of drive we reached to Narayanghat and resisted typical Nepali bumpy highway road of Nawalpur thereafter. Finally, we arrived at the community cultural building premises and got welcomed in traditional style with TIKA and MALA by Tharu women beautifully dressed in cultural attire.

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After a short introduction session at the community hall we went for Tharu cuisine which was mouth watering delicious. Everything there was joyous; the sweet welcome of Tharus, local food, thatched house, farming land and zero degree flat terrain on the base of Siwalik Chure range. The only thing we all wished to have disappeared is the scorching heat of burning sun. We were all wet with sweat wiping face all the time. Some of us managed to beat the tropical sun eating unripe mangoes and litchi stealing from the trees. We were not supposed to do that but it’s fun sometimes to be mischievous. It reminded us of our carefree childhood. We, then, planned to go on Jungle safari as Piprahar village is located right on the northern side of CHITWAN national park territory. In no time the Safari Jeep came to pick us up. We were very fortunate to see many one horned rhinos in the jungle because surprisingly they are commonly seen in the streets away from their actual inhabitant place these days at Sauraha. Herds of deers flocking around accompanied by pleasant sound of birds chirping around and wild boars playing hide and seek in the lush green jungle was truly a beautiful experience. We completely forgot the extreme heat by now. We made a quick stop for group photos on the bank of Narayani river which was a great location at perfect time of dusk. We returned back to our Homestay and had early night sleep as we had to wake up early in the morning for tomorrow study and task.

Museologist sir Karna Maharjan explained about the method of documenting museum objects and its importance in the establishment of a proper museum. Hundreds of museum specimen were stored in the hall and our group was divided to document all of those in a systematic way under the instructions of museum expert karna sir. From the traditional finger-hook slippers to the modern fishing net all of the cultural material belonging to the Tharu and Magar communities had to be recorded. Collection of the museum materials, giving it its traditional original name, size measurements, labelling it with code number, checking its physical condition and fabric materials built with were the major work of documentation. After the half day of documentation task we had a formal program organised by the Community Homestay of Piprahar with Mayor of Devchuli Municipality as a chief guest. The CHITWAN national park stakeholders, Tribhuwan Unversity lecturer, President of Piprahar Homestay and student including me have our relative speech about importance of museum and possibility of Homestay tourism. And most importantly we highlighted the significance of ethnography museum in context of Nepal where we have more than 124 ethnic group living.

Museum is a non- profit institution which aims to collect, document, conserve, display and publish any antiquities or cultural materials. It is a non-political centre of learning and showcasing cultural and historical richness. The trend of open air museum and ecological museum is getting common these days. Piprahar museum is solely and ethno-cultural museum with an objective to preserve the tangible and intangible cultural assets of THARU and MAGAR ethnicity for future generations. Alongside, tourism is undoubtedly a major aspect that will get attached with it for its sustenance. The Greek mythology is accredited about the concept of museum. The king of gods Zeus and his queen Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory had 9 daughters famously known as 9 muses. The 9 muses were worshiped as the goddesses of love, dance, music, poetry, history, epic, comedy, astrology and tragedy. They were source of inspiration for anyone who aspires to master the given knowledge. Museum is derived from Greek word which means the institution of learning and inspiration of knowledge. For instance, a fine sculpture in a museum inspire any viewers to make some master piece art work looking at it. Museum, therefore is not only for recreation, rather it is an institution of inspiration. It is not just for tourists but for the upcoming generation to study history and culture.

After the short lunch of home grown corn and potatoes prepared by locals we went to our Homestay and had early sleep because we had to take a vehicle 3 AM in the morning. The tour was very fruitfull with lots of learning about Tharu and Magar community. As a museuolgy student it was an honour to work in a new museum. We got opportunity to stay at Homestay and the host were very hospitable and culture enthusiast. We wish to go there again when the museum is fully done.


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