Nestled in the lap of the Thar desert on the outskirts of Jodhpur, one would find themselves in the most unusual and one-of-a-kind museums. Unlike what its name suggests, Arna Jharna is far from a waterfall and is a museum that exhibits a collection of the most ordinary and yet unconventional things, skills and art pieces that belong to various Rajasthani cultures. The name of the museum ‘Arna Jharna’ literally translates to ‘forest and spring.’ The founder of the museum describes it as a ‘living museum’ as the museum also embodies and appreciates the geology and biosphere of the Thar desert by modeling the entire museum as a part of the natural topography of the vast and resourceful desert. Rather than a museum, one can call Arna Jharna a simulation of lifestyles, biospheres and art and culture of the expansive desert.
To contextualize the museum better, one must also look at where it has been strategically located by the founder. Arna Jharna is located in the village of Moklawas which lies about 15 Km from the magnificent city of Jodhpur. It is situated in the rocky and sandy topography of the desert as an open roof expanse of almost 10 acres which blends comfortably with the village and the desert at large. The entire museum is surrounded on all sides by forests, religious or ethnically important sites and all sorts of flora and fauna that one might find in the region. The website dedicated to the museum lists down trees such as Babul tree, Phog tree, Tulsi and Zijjini plants that cover most of these forested regions and are a home to small water bodies that often become places of calm for animals such as deers that can be seen around quenching their thirst. The museum also doubles as a biosphere reserve for these plants and animals, modeling after the very famous Bishnoi tribe of Rajasthan.
This demographic was carefully chosen by the very talented and visionary founder of the museum, Komal Kothari. The Padma Bhushan awardee, Kothari was a well renowned oral historian and ethnomusicologist who founded the museum with the well-known writer and storyteller, Vijay Dan Detha. While Kothari was fascinated by recording and understanding folk cultures, oral traditions and folk music of Rajasthan and Detha was one of the most famous folktale writer in the state, together they founded the Rupayan Sansthan which aimed to record and preserve these cultural aspects, mostly related to the performing arts of Rajasthan. It is this Rupayan Sansthan that manages the museum today based on the visions of Kothari to consolidate and display his research into these everyday aspects of several cultures in this Marwari region. In the last years of his life, he concentrated all his knowledge and farsight into laying the roots and building the infrastructure at Arna Jharna and is still lovingly remembered as the founder of the museum.
Apart from all of these interesting and unique characteristics, the most striking feature of the museum lies in its unconventional collections. The first and most extensive collection is that of musical instruments locally made and used by folk singers. This collection includes things like Ektara, Tandura, Kamalcha, Sarangi, Sarinda and many more. The museum also often invites folk artists who play these instruments to perform at the museum making it a live museum rather than historical. This is followed by one of the most unusual collections that this museum boasts about- brooms. Brooms are one of the most ordinary and everyday use product that every household in India uses in one form or another. Arna Jharna looks at this collection of different kinds of brooms as a way of peeing into these ordinary and day-to-day lives of communities in Rajasthan. Some examples of the kinds of brooms displayed in the museum are Khemep, Daab, Jhunjli and so on, with each broom originating from different places, made out of different substances and put to varying uses. The museum also holds broom making workshops for the guests which makes the art of broom making and the collection of brooms even more special.
Since the Rupayan Sansthan manages the museum, it also has a strong research emphasis as an important aspect of the exhibits. The Sansthan holds a huge range of archival material relating to the Thar region including, but not limited to, photos, audio-video recordings and information about various aspects of life. This includes folktales, beliefs, ways of living, flora and fauna and pieces of what makes the identity of these smaller communities in the nation state. The founders envisioned to preserve these nuances of the communities that are often overlooked as just Rajasthani cultures. The Sansthan also invites scholars and researchers from around the world who want to study these cultures to use this archival treasure. Along with this, the museum now also publishes CDs of songs and books that aim at the same motive. They have recorded and published music by local artisans in a number or genres including traditional wedding songs, haunting folk tales and other rhythmic compilations. In addition to this, the museum has also published two books namely, ‘Rajasthan: An Oral History: Conversations with Komal Kothari’ and ‘Bards, Ballads and Boundaries: An Ethnographic Atlas of Music Traditions in West Rajasthan.’
While museums mostly offer us a way into the past, Arna Jharna aims to preserve and exhibit something entirely different. It aims to further our understanding of what thar desert has to offer. It taps into the unseen potential of sustainability, beliefs, cultures and languages in the region. It creates an identity and puts these communities and their lives on the map for the world to experience and cherish. With a very intricate and intimate understanding of people and things, Kothari and Detha have opened up a world of possibilities for historians and political scientists to rewrite the way this geographical space has been understood thus far. Instead of looking at the grander scale of sculptures and art, the museum tries to capture the living realities of many by exhibiting their day-to-day lives and making them part of the mainstream consciousness.
