The Hindu Business Line : Tatas establish tea museum at Munnar

Inaugurating the museum, the Acting Managing Director of Tata Tea, Mr P.T. Siganporia, said the museum provided a glimpse of the history of planting in the high ranges, with its rare curios and photographs attempting to recreate the story of men who opened up the wilderness and nurtured new crops, making Munnar and its surroundings what they are today.

The thousands of tourists who visit Munnar for sightseeing can carry home impressions of the distant past of this tea-planting district in Idukki's high ranges, he said.

The aim of the tea museum, Mr Siganporia said, is to depict the growth of this more-than-a-century-old tea estate, from the rudimentary tea roller to the present fully automated tea factory at Madupatty. It also gives first-hand knowledge to tourists about tea processing and the operations that go into the making of black tea.

A granite sundial, made in 1913 by the Art Industrial School at Nazareth in Tamil Nadu, greets visitors at the entrance of the museum.

The memorabilia preserved inside include the original tea roller of 1905, the rotorvane (the old-time CTC type tea processing machine), the Pelton wheel used in the power generation plant that existed in Kanniamally Estate in the 1920s, a rail engine wheel of the Kundale Valley Light Railway that transported men and material between Munnar and Top Station during the early part of the last century.

The museum also houses an iron-age burial urn from the 2nd century BC that was exhumed near Periakanal Estate in the 1970s.

One of the museum's rooms features the old-time bungalow furniture, cash safe, magneto phone, wooden bathtub, iron oven that used firewood, etc., while another houses antique office equipment such as typewriters and EPABS of the 1909 telephone system that was in use in the high ranges.

There is also a tea testing demonstration room with a variety of teas on display. The museum also has a mini-CTC and orthodox tea manufacturing unit to educate the tourists of the different aspects of tea processing.

The main stay plantation operations, including tea manufacturing in and around Munnar, are eco-responsible. Right from the days of the pioneer planters till today, the eco-balance of this region has been well preserved by conserving its rich bio-diversity, Mr Siganporia added.