Kerala Folklore Museum

Outside view of the Kerala Folklore Museum

The Kerala Folklore Museum is an architecture , ethnography and anthropology museum in Kochi , Kerala State , India . The privately operated facility, founded in 2009, shows art , handicrafts and antiques from many parts of South India. It also doubles as a theater that hosts performances of traditional art forms and other cultural activities. A “Spice Art Shop” offers samples of the traditional cuisine of Kerala, a “Souvenir Shop” offers handicrafts and antiques in the tradition of the region. The building itself is used to document various traditional regional architectural styles from Kerala. The institution was founded by the antique dealer George Thaliath and his wife Annie George, who had amassed the collection over 25 years.

Artifacts

The roughly 4,000 exhibits of all sizes include sculptures made of stone, wood and bronze , ancient terracottas , Stone Age objects, jewelry, paintings, oil lamps, musical instruments, works of tribal and folk art, woodwork, tools, masks and other traditional art forms.

Wood carving at the entrance to the museum, Shiva and Parvati ride the bull Nandi
Various artifacts, in the middle the goddess Durga riding a tiger
Wooden statue of the mythical elephant Airavata
Wooden statue of the mythical bird Garuda
Sheet brass on wood, Tamil Nadu handicraft , early 19th century
Stained glass from Palakkad , 19th century
Antique stone pot with relief representation, 1st century BC
Ivory and buffalo horn containers, handicrafts from Kerala, 18th to 19th centuries AD

building

The building was erected over a period of seven years by 60 trained carpenters , wood carvers and wall painters . The construction includes 25 ancient and traditional structural elements from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. The building documents three different architectural styles of Kerala: the ground floor the style of Malabar , the first floor that of Kochi, the second floor that of Travancore .

Wooden carved lintels, installed in the museum building
Wall painting on the second floor of the building

theatre

The theater regularly shows performances of traditional South Indian folk and ritual dances as well as martial arts.

Folk dances: Mohiniyattam (Mohiniattam), Bharatanatyam , Ottamthullal , Oppana , Margamkali

Ritual dances: Theyyam , Thirayattam , Mutiyettu

Martial art: Kalaripayattu

Costumes for the ritual dance Theyyam
Face painting ("face writing") for the ritual representation of the deity Muthappan
Depiction of the deity Paalottu Daivam , an incarnation of Vishnu
Oracle swords for South Indian ritual dances