DakshinaChitra: A Celebration of Culture through Art, Architecture & Crafts of South India

One of my friends from Chennai suggested me this beautiful place for my Marketing Project and what pleasure it was to visit here!

Here's for the introduction as per their official brochure :

'Dakshinchitra is an attempt to preserve some of the traditional south Indian ways of life by constructing a "living" village containing some of the various traditional homes of south India.

Situated on the eastern shore, quietly resonating with the gentle thumps of the blue water at its back door, DakshinaChitra epitomises the South Indian cultural heritage.'

 

The 30 km drive from our institute to here seems to take you back 150 years to a bygone era!

The place has beautifully recreated the the 'picture of the South' over an area of 10-acre.

Established by the Madras Crafts Foundation, the institute promotes the culture and legacy of the four South Indian States of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Looking around, I could see accurate reconstructions of houses & streets from the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Some houses have special showrooms which also exhibit certain artifacts and give details about those times from that region.

 In addition to the heritage houses, traditional artisans have  set up demo booths. Visitors are in this way introduced to traditional handicrafts like kalamkari, pottery and even silk weaving. The demonstraters were very friendly and passionate in explaining the intricacies of their art. 

Also I could catch exciting puppet plays, consult palmists and parrot astrologers, tried hand at spinning traditional tops!

For those interested in purchasing souvenirs, Dakshinchitra also has a well-stocked gift-shop and an arts & crafts marketplace. An alfresco restaurant on the premises ensures visitors won't go hungry.