Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum

Stocking a pan Indian collection of roughly 20,000 products—ranging from musical instruments, Indian paintings, sculptures and woodwork, to jewellery, puppets, writing instruments and textiles—the Kelkar Museum is a bottomless pit of practical objects used as part of daily Indian life. Everything inside the museum was painstakingly collected over a period of about 40 years by Baba Kelkar, who wanted to create a centre for all things artistic. The ground floor houses a large display of household vessels from the 18th and 19th century, while another floor is dedicated to idols of Ganesha, Shiva and Parvati along with a manuscript and paintings depicting scenes straight out of the Ramayana. Yet another collection reveals the decadent lifestyle of maharajas in the 18th century, and music lovers will appreciate the gallery dedicated to musical instruments (including the personal instruments of some famous musicians like P.L. Deshpande and Ustad Kadarbaksh Khan). One room houses a recreation of Mastani Mahal (built back in 1734), replete with colourful paintings and chandeliers to evoke a sense of luxury. Dr. D.G. Kelkar died in 1990, but his life’s legacy lives on in the museum, which is a must-see for both Indian and international tourists.