Don Bosco Museum, Shillong | Centre For Indigenous Culture

Don Bosco Museum, Shillong Overview

Hailed as Asia's largest Museum of Indigenous Cultures, the Don Bosco Museum is the house of the beautiful culture and tradition of North East India. It is conveniently located in the Mawlai area, near the Police Bazaar. With its seven storeys, it rises into the skyline of Shillong and flaunts 16 laid out galleries that showcase artefacts, paintings, figures significant to the Northeastern culture. Not only do these provide a feast to the eyes of the visitors, but also give an insight into the lifestyle of the North-Eastern people.

The significance of Don Bosco Museum is prominent from the fact that it has been toured by the eminent people from Rajya Sabha as well as the princess of Thailand. The museum is more of an institution with its own research wing, publications, newsletters and cultural calendar. Another striking fact about Don Bosco museum is that it is built in a hexagonal shape, which is why it is referred to as Shillong's architectural pride. Often, there are competitive events held in the premises of the museum and scholars, writers, musicians and lyricists from all over the country participate in them.

1. Agriculture Gallery

This gallery deals with the new and different aspects of farming and agriculture practices such as wet rice cultivation, shifting cultivation, plough cultivation etc.

2. Art Gallery

One of the most popular galleries in the museum, it houses exceptional collections of rare paintings, quirky artefacts and objects indigenous to the North Eastern States. They have been sourced from v (Read More)arious corners of North East India and include bamboo, cane craft, stonework, metal art, tribal jewellery collections, unusual collections of utensils, statuettes, paintings etc.

3. Basketry Gallery

This is an interesting gallery that stores an extensive collection of bamboo baskets made in North East India. You can look closely and identify the different basket weaving styles such as Manipuri st (Read More)yle of Bamboo weaving etc. Apart from baskets, there are bamboo headgear, rain shields, utensils etc as well.

4. Ornaments and Jewellery Gallery

This is the section where you can find the tribal ornaments and jewellery that people living in North India wear on a daily basis. Jewellery plays an important role in the lives of almost all tribes a (Read More)nd they make them out of distinct objects such as feather, beads, metal, semi-precious stones, bamboo, cloth and embroidered patches.

5. Fishing and Hunting Gallery

This gallery deals with the artefacts and weapons-related to fishing and hunting, which are displayed neatly with written descriptions about each.

6. Food Gallery

Another popular spot in the museum is the food gallery where one can learn about the various kinds of dishes that North Eastern people typically eat. The different indigenous fruits, vegetables and sp (Read More)ices native to these people can be found on display here.