Bhopal: A gateway to tribal and folk culture

Bhopal, the city of Legend Raja Bhoj, well-known for lakes, the legacy of Nawabs and social and political incidents, comprises of copious interesting and exciting places for travellers. During my initial days of reporting in Bhopal, I was told to do a story on tribal and folk culture of Madhya Pradesh.

Tribal and folk culture is a valuable belonging of our nation. Being a native of MP, I had no clue about the mysterious tribal and folk culture. However, there are still a few places in India, especially in Bhopal to get glimpses of their customs and traditions.

After some days of research, I went to a place called Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalay (IGRMS) and Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum to pursue the story. I did not succeed in getting a story for my organisation; nevertheless, IGRMS was ahead of my hopes and showcased another fascinating character of Bhopal.

Known as the city of lakes, Bhopal has a lot more to explore India’s tribal and folk culture. Bhopal has many heritage and natural structures like Sanchi Stupa, Bhimbetka Caves and Gohar Mahal, but along these famous sites, the city has some museums, which are a treasure of India’s tribal and folk culture.

IGRMS, located near boat club of Upper Lake, is a hub of tribal artefacts, instruments and pictures of contemporary tribal cultures of India. Above 20,000 cultural artefacts and almost one lakh books and journals in diverse languages are stored in the museum.

These valuable belongings of IGRMS attract not only the visitors but also researchers. People, who want to witness diversity and integrity of tribal India, should visit IGRMS. The museum is designed in such a fashion that it executes the realistic tribal India, which makes IGRMS the best anthropological spot of Central India.

IGRMS has 30-odd painted rock caves, Tribal Habitat and Veethi –Sankul and Bhopal Gallery within its campus. “Tribal Habitat” is the most vital tourist attraction of the museum; it serves as a laboratory for researchers, architecture scholars and anthropologists and also exhibits lifestyles, cultural identities, traditional houses of Coastal India, Himalayan region and desert areas of the country.

Cultural enthusiasts can explore the real-time experience of tribal life after viewing the massive dwellings of tribal communities of our country at the Tribal Habitat.

One of the officials of IGRMS shared that, eminent Bollywood actor Saurabh Shukla visited IGRMS on December 4, 2014, and he was overwhelmed on seeing the tribal habitats, rock art shelters and indoor galleries of Manav Sangrahalaya.

“Time spent here, in Manav Sangrahalaya, can never be enough,” Saurabh Shukla, had said. Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum is also an exciting site to explore Gond, Bheel, Korku, Baiga, Sahariya, Kol and Bhariya tribes.

You can view the mesmerising dwellings and habitat of these tribes in the museum. One most important thing about these habitats is that they teach us how to utilise trees, plants and soil to build a habitation. Exhibition Gallery of the museum showcases tribal games, etc. IGRMS is a must visit when you travel to Bhopal.