The gleaming-white Greco-Roman building on the National Highway in Alappuzha, 53 kms from Kochi, has the appearance of a church. There are 30-foot-tall pillars adorned with engravings. In the courtyard there’s a seven-foot-high 635 kg statue of the Prodigal Son, made by noted Israeli sculptor Sam Phillipe.
Depicting a parable from the Bible, the son in the statue presses his face against the beard of his father, asking for forgiveness for blowing up the family fortune. The gift was initiated by an international organisation called Pave The Way Foundation. Inside, there is another work called Madonna and Baby Jesus. “Sam made only seven pieces of the sculpture,” says museum owner Betty Karunakaran.
The Revi Karunakaran Memorial Museum is a marvellous monument in memory of the coir industry stalwart built by wife Betty and daughter Lullu in 2006. “We were involved in the conceptual design of the building, as well as the placement of even the tiniest article,” says Betty. The family had been avid collectors for over three generations. Items include antiques, paintings, crystal, ivory, sculptures and numerous other items. “After my husband’s death in 2003, I decided to open up the collection to the public,” says Betty.
Revi Karunakaran is regarded as the architect of India’s coir industry. His father and grandfather were prominent industrialists. Educated in the UK, Switzerland and USA, Revi was fluent in German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Malayalam. In April, 1952, after his father passed away, he took over reins of the Karan Group of Companies at the age of 20. In recognition of his services to the coir industry, Revi was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Coir Board, Government of India, in 2001.
But he had another passion — both Revi and Betty travelled the world and collected artwork and artifacts.
One striking addition is a gleaming steel-grey classic Buick. “It was the only Buick imported into South India in 1948,” says Betty.
A mural by Suresh Muthukulam takes up 200 sq ft of one wall. The artist used natural colours like lime for white, lamp soot for black, yellow and ochre red, and a brush made of arrow grass as tool. In another section, national flags of 194 countries are painted on the walls. There are 50 rare Tanjore paintings, camphor and liquor boxes from China, parrots made of silver from Mexico, apart from sculptures of nadarajas and goddesses, and Revi’s family tree.
On the first floor, there is an ivory collection which is supposed to be the largest in the country. Betty says their Swarovski selection is one of the biggest private collections in the world. Among them is a falcon made of 43,164 crystal pieces. “We receive the company’s limited-edition crystals as well as products from the annual edition,” says Betty. There’s also a large selection of sculptures in porcelain made by the French luxury brand Daum and the German brand Moser, and Lalique crystals.
An 800 sq ft area has been demarcated for Kerala antiques. There’s an antique wood storage room for grains (pathayam), a lock, manichithara thazhu and other ancient farm equipments on display. “The items are worth crores of rupees,” says Betty. “But for me the most valuable piece is one made by a handicapped sculptor we met by the roadside in Peru. He didn’t have a hand or leg, but carved the sculpture by holding the burin (engraving tool) in his mouth.”