RON, GADAG: It is rare in today’s age to find well-preserved treasures from our past. However, walk into this old Gowda style house in Ron and you will be met with several sights that will transport you back into the 18th century.
The house, with a grand entrance and a hall measuring 60 feet by 40 feet, belongs to Mallayya Mahapurushamutt, a 65-year-old, whose sole aim is to protect the precious scriptures and palm leaf manuscripts, passed down from generations of his family, so that he can show them to all those interested in the past, specifically the younger generation.
Mallayya lives in Horapet in Ron, a town which is 45 km from Gadag. Among his collections is the original copy of the Markandeya Purana, one of the 18 Puranas of ancient India. The authenticity of the original has been confirmed by researchers from Karnatak University who advised him not to share the same but to protect it for future generations. His display, in fact, attracts a lot of researchers looking for clues into our past.
For the last 20 years, Mallayya has been in charge of protecting these scriptures, old books and other antiques, all the while choosing to put them on display in his home. He even has plans for an antique museum in Ron somewhere in the future.
“I am not a degree holder or a historian. There were innumerable scriptures earlier but we lost them during rains one year. Twenty years back, as the mobile era was dawning, I thought that instead of just preserving these items, I should show it to youngsters and researchers,” Mallayya said.
This led to some study on the manuscripts penned down in Kannada and Sanskrit before he took the decision to put them on display. “Now I have a small museum in my house, I will not show it to everyone, but only those who express interest.” Interestingly, Mallayya has never had to buy any of the antiques he owns. It all comes from his ancestors, who meticulously stored these items, passing them on to each new generation. He has invested some money in collecting currencies however.
Visitors who make the cut are also allowed to look at a vast repository of wooden carvings, most of which are by Mallayya himself, which he keeps in an adjoining room. Besides these items, he also has a collection of traditional pens, including a quill feather pen from a peahen as well as a traditional pen made of cane, called Balak.
Talking about the quality of the display as well as the host, Basavaraj Nagavi, a history student from Ron says, “I visited Mallayya’s mini-museum some months ago. He offered us puffed rice (Churumari Vaggarani) and served us two helpings till we said enough. He replied simply by saying we would need the strength as he would take us on a journey to the 18th and 19th century from where we would return after four hours. It is a place worth visiting.”