I knew that the exhibition was on at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (formerly Prince of Wales Museum) Vastu Sangrahalaya since November last year, I was not able to make it there until now. But this weekend, I was determined to go there. With its vast rooms filled with paintings, idols and other artworks, it is a veritable treasure trove of knowledge about the centuries gone past. You could spend an entire day here and yet not get bored. I hope I am able to do that one day.
Anyways, the reason for my visit this weekend was an exhibition of the Egyptian Mummies and other artefacts. At Rs 60 per head, the entry fee was reasonable. But for the life of me, I could not fathom the reason behind the security asking everyone to leave their water bottles behind. I dutifully left mine behind and excitedly rushed towards the first floor which housed the exhibition. At the entrance, a replica of the Rosetta stone greeted visitors. I had heard about it but was seeing it, even though it was a replica, for the first time in my life. Looked mighty complicated!
I pushed on. The displays contained so many things - amulets, ceremonial pots, clay tablets depicting scenes from Egyptian life, replicas of the containers that were used to preserve vital organs of the dead, idols of the Gods and the Mummies! There were about 4-5 sarcophaguses. I wondered if they really contained Mummies inside. There was one Mummy without its sarcophagus though - the board next to it said that imaging has revealed that it contains body of a young man. It is one thing to see the Mummies in movies and another to stand next to one. I stepped back in alarm. It definitely creeped out, must confess. The information on displays ranged from the mundane - like the names of the kings and their descendents, to the interesting - like the Egyptians' ideas about life and the afterlife, to the gory - like people killing cats by twisting their necks just so that they can offer their mummies to God. It was unreal to think that these very objects who had now become part of a public display were once handled by real people like you and me, who led real lived filled with both - grief and sorrow. I recalled words from Author's note of a novel that I recently finished reading - Each of us is a time capsule.
By the time I reached the end of the exhibition, I wondered - these people seemed to spend so much time thinking about death and the afterlife, did they ever find any time to live in the present?
Anyways, the reason for my visit this weekend was an exhibition of the Egyptian Mummies and other artefacts. At Rs 60 per head, the entry fee was reasonable. But for the life of me, I could not fathom the reason behind the security asking everyone to leave their water bottles behind. I dutifully left mine behind and excitedly rushed towards the first floor which housed the exhibition. At the entrance, a replica of the Rosetta stone greeted visitors. I had heard about it but was seeing it, even though it was a replica, for the first time in my life. Looked mighty complicated!
I pushed on. The displays contained so many things - amulets, ceremonial pots, clay tablets depicting scenes from Egyptian life, replicas of the containers that were used to preserve vital organs of the dead, idols of the Gods and the Mummies! There were about 4-5 sarcophaguses. I wondered if they really contained Mummies inside. There was one Mummy without its sarcophagus though - the board next to it said that imaging has revealed that it contains body of a young man. It is one thing to see the Mummies in movies and another to stand next to one. I stepped back in alarm. It definitely creeped out, must confess. The information on displays ranged from the mundane - like the names of the kings and their descendents, to the interesting - like the Egyptians' ideas about life and the afterlife, to the gory - like people killing cats by twisting their necks just so that they can offer their mummies to God. It was unreal to think that these very objects who had now become part of a public display were once handled by real people like you and me, who led real lived filled with both - grief and sorrow. I recalled words from Author's note of a novel that I recently finished reading - Each of us is a time capsule.
By the time I reached the end of the exhibition, I wondered - these people seemed to spend so much time thinking about death and the afterlife, did they ever find any time to live in the present?
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