Aban's Amazing Discovery
by Hootoksi Tyabji, Shah Alam, October 2022
My cousin Aban has always been interested in History and Art and having heard about the Aundh Museum from her friend Sue Sharma she had been wanting to visit it for the longest time.
The opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago when she travelled to Pune to see her friend and together, they set off on an expedition to visit the Bhawani Museum in Aundh a 134 Kms taxi ride away!
Aundh was a Maratha princely state in the British Raj covering an area of 1298 sq Kms with a unique history and a King, Bhawanrao Shiriniwasrao (Balasaheb) who in 1938 relinquished his power and handed over governance to his people. This was the first experiment of Gandhiji’s cherished goal of “gram Rajiya” village-level self-government.
https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/people/raja-of-aundh-the-king-who-gave-away-his-power
The Bhawani Museum in Aundh was the result of one man’s passion for Art, Rajah Balasaheb himself was a prolific artist and he collected paintings, pottery, statuary, weapons, hand-written holy texts, manuscripts,and many other artefacts. He wanted to share his treasures with his people, so he studied the science of museum construction considering natural light, ventilation, and protection for the art works on display, and with the help of foreign architects he constructed the building in 1938. The Museum houses 500 miniature paintings of all the major schools (15th-19th century) paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, many other famous Indian revivalist artists of the 19th and 20th centuries & Western artists, including a Rembrandt self-portrait. The Museum has over 8000 artworks, 16,000 texts and 3,500 hand-written holy texts.
Aban was awed by all she saw but was absolutely surprised and ecstatic when she came across portraits painted by her uncle and my grandfather Jehangir A Lalkaka, one of India’s foremost portrait painters in the early part of this century. None of us in the family had any idea that Papa’s paintings were a part of the museum in Aundh. There is one portrait on display that is very special to me as it is a self-portrait of grandpa with my mother painted in the background. I do hope to be able to visit the museum someday and see these paintings for myself.
In the interim thanks to Aban, we have a few photos which she was hurriedly permitted to photograph with her handphone just as she was leaving the building.
Thank you, dearest cousin, for uncovering this treasure trove for us!
Among Aban's findings in the Museum are these portraits by Grandfather J.A Lalkaka
Below is an excerpt from a research paper presented in the VIIIth Deccan Geographical Society’s National Conference on Tourism, Development and Management; conducted at Pali (Sudhagad) College, Dist. Raigad during 26-28th Oct, 2007.
Aundh is also famous for its “Shri. Bhavani Museum and Library”. The art museum was established in 1938 by the Shrimant Raja Bala Sahib Pantpratinidhi. The museum is very pleasant and located near the Yamai Temple complex. It has various paintings drawn by various well-known Indian artists such as Raja Ravi Varma, Bala Sahib Pantpratinidhi, Rao Bahaddur Dhurandhar, Baburao Painter, Satavalekar, Thakursing, etc. Three paintings by Raja Ravi Varma is the pride of the Museum. The paintings of Western artist include Karnil, Andridil, Sortobardana, Francis Goya, Chairasee Frank, Estman, Mistueth, Jones Bero etc are exhibited in this museum. The pictures of this museum, Road to Paris, Views of Venus, Boy Volunteer, Sunset, Final meal models of Monalisa, Mother & Baby, Virgin Woman are the best ones. The museum has a big section of stone created structures. The museum consisand ts, "Child & Mother", the only sculpture in India made by world famous European sculptor Henry Moor. The sculptures of bronze like 'Running Mercury', 'Kamdev', 'AgniDev' are also decorated here. The beautiful statues of 6 Indian seasons are kept inside the new building. The museum has well organi“zed sections with decorative art objects and has a small garden within its premises. The museum Library has a collection of above 16000 rare books and 3000 handwritten manuscripts. The collection was owned by Shri. Bala Sahib Pantpratinidhi. After his death (1951), in 1952 the museum comes under the Department of Archeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra.
The old building of the museum was constructed with the help of foreign architects, considering natural light, ventilation and protection. The new building, parallel to old one, has been constructed in 2007, in the same structure. It's a great pleasure to see such a wonderful collection in a rural area of Satara district. The scenic two buildings of the museum situated on the slope of Yamai Plateau. The museum is open to visitors everyday between 10.00 a.m. - 1 p.m. and after between 1.30 p.m. - 5 p.m. except on Mondays. There are many more such items that one can enjoy in museum.”