Folklore Museum of Kerala

What a man with 25 years in hand can do, the answer depends on various factors, but here is a story of a man, who not only have done something truly incredible, but at the same time made us all proud, capturing the history of Kerala and adding an important chapter to the history of India. 

Meet the guy Mr. George J Thaliath; he is a post graduate in his early 50s. 

In his early age he joined his father Jacob.V.Thaliath, in dealing with Indian art. Gaining experience for evaluating antiquities and other art objects. He travelled extensively around the Indian sub-continent – ranging from ancient cities to remote villages, royals to tribal huts, religious to ritual experiences gaining expertise in knowledge about traditional art. Together with his wife Annie George, this museum is a trip to history.

This museum is unique in a way that it is work of a single man who dedicated his life to preserving the rich tradition and culture of Kerala. Right from entering the gate of Folklore museum, one gets the idea of what is stored in it. Spanning across 3 stories, each section has its on categorization. The entrance, building, and architecture everything is made of collected antique items with count of over 5000 and still counting.

On reaching the Museum, you are welcomed by an artistic gate with an open space inside, displaying various artifacts made of stone. You are required to take off your shoes/slippers in order to maintain serenity of the place. 

Once entering the reception hall you are greeted by heartwarming smile of the staff. They explain the history and importance of the museum and how to effectively navigate through the corridors of cultural history.

There is an entry ticket for the museum, which operates at no profit, no loss. The ticket is for maintenance and promotion of museum. The ticket per head is 100 INR for adults and 50 INR for students, there is an additional 100 INR for photography/videography but every penny is worth it. The museum conducts authentic stage performances every day at 6.30 p.m. The museum opens at 9.30 a.m. till 7.00 p.m.

We came to know from the staff that the building itself is made of reconstructed artifacts like doors, ceilings, floors, stairs etc. which left you in wonder. Each section is dedicated to different architectural styles of Malabar (Northern Kerala) on Ground Floor, Cochin (Central Kerala) on Second Floor and Travancore (Southern Kerala) on Third Floor. Taking entry through the heavy wooden traditional door decorated with manichitratazhu (a traditional ornate door lock of Kerala), the structure itself is created from the remainings of 16th Century temple of Tamil Nadu. The wood carvings used, are collected from all across Kerala. Once inside ,you will be able to see artifacts from murals, to statues, puppets, utensils, locks, jewelry, and musical instruments. The museum is easy to navigate and directions are given at each corner for next section and to next floor.

The first floor is decorated with the Cochin architectural style and is named as kalithattu. Kalithattu means a floor for play. It displays costumes of various traditional and ritual dance forms of Kerala like Theyyam, Kathakali, Ottanthullal, and Mohiniyattam.

The second floor is named as Kanjadalam which means lotus petal. It has the collection of mural paintings and has a chiseled wooden ceiling made of 60 frames.

The third floor roof itself weighs in Tonnes and is standing by itself without any support or pillar. Here you can see the running documentary or buy some artifacts made by the folklore workers as a souvenirs

 All having creation date spanning from thousands of years to few tens, of years of modern history. The tour is very educational and gives a fair idea of Kerala Cultural evolution, ethnicity. It’s a good place to showcase how our society evolved, and make the History as a subject, much more interesting. It leaves you thinking that how, and by whom those artifacts were used. What were the situations then, and how these articles recovered?

Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum is truly a place to visit. It is the result of a man and his family with dedication and manpower of 62 carpenters and skilled workers, who put more than seven years to realize this dream.

You can visit this amazing place on address

Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum

Folklore Jn., Thevara,

Cochin, Kerala, India

Phone: + 91 484 2665452

E-mail: keralafolkloretheatre@gmail.com

Website: www.folkloremuseum.in.