Revi Karunakaran Memorial Museum

The Revi Karunakaran Museum

The Revi Karunakaran Memorial Museum is a privately owned museum located in Alappuzha, Kerala, in southern India. Established in memory of Revi Karunakaran, a member of Kerala’s coir industry, the museum showcases a collection of decorative arts and artifacts, including ivory, crystal, porcelain, Tanjore paintings, and religious symbols from multiple faiths.

The Museum

In 2003, it was built by Betty Karan in memory of her husband, the coir industrialist Revi Karunakaran.[1] It holds one of the largest private collections of Swarovski crystals in the world along with porcelain, jade, ivory, Keralan artifacts, furniture, and Tanjore paintings.[2][3][4]

The Karunakaran family has been collectors of fine art and artifacts for at least three generations.[5] The collection was originally private. However, after Karunakaran's death, Betty Karan decided to open the collection to the public. Lalichan Zachariah, an architect from Ernakulam, designed the museum. The museum was inaugurated on 22 November 2006 by the former governor of Meghalaya M.M. Jacob.[1]

Constructed over approximately three years, the RKK museum incorporates various architectural elements, including frontal Greco-Roman columns, and covers an area of 28,000 sq ft.[2][1] The museum is organized around four religions — Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity — which are represented with equal prominence across the murals, ivory collection, Kerala room and other exhibits.[1] The third phase of the museum was inaugurated on 22 November 2015 by Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the fifth President of Sri Lanka.[6][7][8] Most items displayed in the museum are accompanied by a certificate of authentication, certified by Karan.[9]

Chandrika Kumaratunga has figuratively compared this museum to the Taj Mahal, as both were conceived as a symbol and memorial of spousal love.[6][10][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "About us - RKK Museum". RKK Museum. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  2. ^ a b Planet, Lonely; Benanav, Michael; Blasi, Abigail; Brown, Lindsay; Elliott, Mark; Harding, Paul; Kaminski, Anna; Mahapatra, Anirban; Mayhew, Bradley (1 October 2017). Lonely Planet India. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781787011991.
  3. ^ Travel, Femina (19 June 2017). "Five things to do in Alleppey, Kerala". Femina India. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Revi Karunakaran Museum in Alappuzha, Revi Karuna Karan Museum". www.alappuzhaonline.in. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Love museum keeps romance alive". CCTV International (China Central Television). 7 March 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b "കാഴ്ചയുടെ അത്ഭുത ലോകം തുറന്ന് ശ്രീലങ്കന്‍ മുന്‍ പ്രസിഡന്റ്‌ (Former Sri Lankan President opens an amazing world to behold)". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  7. ^ "ചന്ദ്രിക കുമാരതുംഗെ ആലപ്പുഴയില്‍ (Chandrika Kumaratunga in Alappuzha)". Deepika. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  8. ^ "RKK Museum 3rd Phase Inaguration". YouTube. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  9. ^ "...Things of BEAUTY". The Hindu, Metro Plus. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  10. ^ Anil, Sheeja (24 October 2016). "ആലപ്പുഴയിലെ താജ് മഹല്‍! (The Taj Mahal of Alappuzha!)". Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2018.

9°29′57″N 76°19′44″E / 9.499180°N 76.328827°E / 9.499180; 76.328827

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