On 29th December, during my bus ride to Sri Krishna Museum of Kurukshetra, Haryana it came to me how much having an open mindset to trying new things has changed my interests drastically. It may sound bizarre to the reader, however, there is no shame in openly admitting I am an atheist who is open to hearing minutest details of the religious texts of Mahabharata, Ramayana, or scripture of Bhagavad Gita or of any other religion besides Hinduism.
The museum is a bronze and grey colored four-storey building taking visitors on a journey that elaborates the 700 verses of Bhagavad Gita through bronze and ivory statues of Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Haryana, and Rajasthan dating back to the 20th century particularly emphasizing scenes from Lord Krishna’s life. The appreciation was not limited to traditional works alone, contemporary works had their own interpretation without being offensive to any audience, this could be seen in carvings as minute as the size of a matchstick to a life-size human. To my surprise, the museum made sure to also throw light on the material culture of various civilizations such as Indus-Saraswati through artifacts such as hooks, seals, spears, bangles, hairpins, neckpieces, and pottery kept in the best conditions. The underwater excavation revealed the ancient city of bet Dwarka during the protohistoric period of Gujrat; this was understood through conches and pottery fragments obtained (if only I could touch these gems but I chose to stay respectful). Besides the statues and artifacts mentioned above, devotion for Krishna was seen on even textiles through something as intricate as zari embroidery work on an umbrella panelled skirt to wall-hangings; and not to forget I finally got to witness the miniature paintings that I have studied so much about in my Indian and art history classes and they are way smaller than people would like to assume in real life, they are worth the admiration and museums are worth the visit.