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Uday Balakrishnan

Uday Balakrishnan discovers a museum of sculptures, manuscripts, coins and many other vestiges of the past in the small AP town of Rajahmundry.

It is a relatively small place for a museum and located almost on the banks of the magnificent Godavari it hardly stands out. For sheer `non-descriptness' few buildings can beat the Sri Rallabandi Subba Rao Government Archaeological Museum at Rajahmundry. It is also so well concealed from view, that those passing by would not even be aware of its existence, as most people in the town are not! Pity indeed, for they are missing out on one of the finest treasure houses of archaeological artefacts in Andhra Pradesh and arguably one of the most well stocked and best maintained small museums in India.

Immediately on entering the gates of the Museum one realises that it is exceptional. A remarkable outdoor exhibition of sculptures is right there, just past the entrance, in the Museum's open spaces and verandahs. Many of these are of the ever-popular Lord Ganesha. A beautiful stone motif of Rama, Lakshmana, Lav and Kush is neatly arranged alongside sculptures of varying antiquity. Even in this place full of exhibits of extraordinary beauty, there are some that really stand out, one of these being an exquisite sculpture of the Buddha.

The Museum has over 450 well-preserved palm leaf manuscripts and a number of stone inscriptions, several of which are over 2,000years old. In its several steel cupboards, kept out of public gaze and inaccessible except to the most persistent, are stashed away numerous ancient copper plates — amongst them a set of five, held together by a copper ring, the record of a gift of a large tract of land to one Vasudeva Sarma by a king of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.

Well preserved stone implements from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, a beautiful wooden sculpture of indeterminable antiquity of a nude Bastar woman, swords and guns form the past are amongst the many articles on display at this Museum. Some stone pottery and several bricks from the Mauryan and Satavahan eras can also be seen. However, this pale before the incredible collection of ancient and medieval coins the Museum possesses, many of which are of gold. The spread is unbelievably varied — coins of the Visnukundins Dynasty (3rd BC) and those of the later day Chalukyas jostle for attention with more recent ones of the Moghuls and the British East India Company.

Amongst the coins I was shown — privately and very guardedly — by the Museum's very eager and exceptionally knowledgeable curators, was a very pretty one of the Visnukundins Dynasty, with the symbol of a roaring lion on one side and the engraving of a kalasha (holy pot) with lamps on either side on the other. Many other coins — the museum has 300 of them can also be seen on request, and remember to ask to shown those of the Cholas with the legend `Raja Raja' engraved on them. These, even by present day standards, are rather well finished.

Three remarkable persons established the Museum over seventy years ago. Two of them — Rallabandi Subba Rao and Malaampalli Somashekara Sarma — were historians and the third, Mallampali Krishna Rao, an advocate. In 1927 they got together and founded the Andhra Historical Society, published a journal regularly and collected documents of historical importance and archeological artefacts from around the east and west Godavari several, of which, I was told, are in the Museum today. Over the years, the Museum has added to its original collection, giving it a variety and range across time spans that few others of this size anywhere can match. All these enable us to further our understanding and appreciation of one of South India's richest archaeological treasure grounds — the lands on the east and west of the Godavari.

The museum was taken over by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1967 and renamed after one of its founders, Rallabandi Subba Rao. That this splendid institution is not widely known, even by the people of Rajahmundry, is astonishing to say the least. In my numerous visits to the town no one ever told me about it though a few did recommend that I step across to look up a `fantastic' museum is nearby Vijayawada. Hopefully, many others will `happen' on this place. Such a wonderful museum cannot be kept under wraps forever!

Pictures by the author

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