The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum :
The Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is the one-man collection of Padmashree Late Dr. D.G. Kelkar (1896 -1990). 'Kaka', as Dr. Kelkar was affectionately known, dedicated his collection to the memory of his only son `Raja’ who died an untimely tragic death.
Kelkar Museum is a collection about 21,000 priceless artifacts which mirror the everyday life of India. A testimony to man’s creative spirit - the spirit that breaths beauty into the banal, and puts romance into the mundane.
Kaka was a man obsessed with art. A man who, for over sixty years, he traveled extensively across the country - to uncertain villages and tribal settlements, to grand temples and humble huts,and to forgotten attics and folk fares - collecting .. always collecting.
Kaka,he was a poet, wel known as 'Adnyatwasi'. He was a man, who was driven by an inner calling. A man on a mission. To gather the detective examples of folk arts and Indian craftsmanship and to commit them to the world as an invaluable inheritance, a legacy of love.
The extraordinary Museum collection of 21,000 priceless artifacts recalls Indian traditions and the historical indian culture which gently lead to more and much treasures. metal,Creations in stone,ivory(a tusk, as of an elephant), wood, fabric and clay that survive as the full realization of human craftsmanship.
The collection of Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is an expressive reminder of the invaluable improvement of Kaka’s late wife Smt. Kamlabai Kelkar (1902 - 1980),and partner and also of Kaka’s only daughter Sau. Rekha Hari Ranade Prabhatai).
The Museum’s highlight ‘Mastani Mahal’ reveals the mansion of ‘Mastani’, the famous concubine of ‘Peshwa Bajirao Ist’ - Kaka’s tribute to the grandeur of a bygone era.
This priceless treasure donated by Kakasaheb Kelkar, since 1975, is encouraged by the Government of Maharashtra, and it is also managed by the Board of Management who are deeply committed to not only preserving Kaka’s collection but also to the growth and development of the Collection.
