Tuesday, April 30, 2013

A visit to Rajahmundry Museum,,,

Rallabandi Subba Rao Archaeological Museum


This museum  is maintained by the state archaeological Department , Andhra Pradesh, The collection pertains mainly to the Godavari Districts and its surrounding areas .The museum is located closely on the banks of Godavari river and in the heart of the Rajahmundry town.

It is named after a forgotten Telugu archaeologist Late Mr. Rallabandi Subba rao. There is no signage board or publication available about late Mr. Subba Rao at the museum. It is disappointing for all those people who are desirous to know more about him. However there is a beautifully caved marble bust of this scholar inside the gallery.


In photographing this collection of bronzes ( vijayanagara and latter period) I am forced to use Flash/Auto mode, owing to my lack of knowledge in shooting in manual mode and also I did not have access to professional photographer. The patina and textural effects of the metal sculptures do not confirm to original sculptures as the images have been photoshopped to get better clarity. But friends and students could appreciate the artefacts unique ornamentation, linearity and rhythm in this ancient art works.
Somaskanda

Somaskanda

Vijayanagara Copper plate inscriptions

Parasurama, (wood)

Linga( base)

Linga( base)

Kurma, Bronze,18 Century AD


Rama, Bronze,17 Century AD

Head of Shiva, wood, painted

Srudevi,18 Century AD

Bhudevi

Bhudevi



Parvati,Bronze 12 Century AD

Parvati, Bronze


Hanuman, Bronze, 15 Century Ad

Harithi_5 CenturyAD_Terracotta


lakshman, Bronze

Lakshmi narayana, bronze

mahavira








Rama, Bronze 17 Ccentury AD

Tara, Bronze, Nepal ( 16 Century AD)


Uma maheswara, bronze


A life Sized wooden statue of a nude lady is a major attraction in the gallery. This could be classified as tribal sculpture from Maharashtra.(19 century). This attractive wooden sculpture found its way to Rajahmundry from tribal regions of Maharashtra by floating in the Godavari River during the heavy floods. The conservation staff at the museum gave a coat of varnish to the wooden sculpture. The sculpture is now strong, sturdy and is well preserved.






I have included a few photographs of river Godavari, life of people, and other scenes of which I shot while approaching the museum.
Thanx.


Sculpture fragments found nr the river









Raja babu, film comedian of yesteryears

Shoban babu, film personality

Sculpture fragments found nr the river

Sculpture fragments found nr the river


Srinivas(29-April-2013)
Camp:Rajahmundry.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you Raman. The Mahavir, Devi, and last Shiva will be very useful to me. What's the Devi's date? Her nose is quite sharp.

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    Replies
    1. sorry, I see. 12th century, didn't read carefully.

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