BAKSA, a wooden box collected from the community of folk of Himachal Pradesh, from 1979, has been displayed under the latest and popular online series of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) on Monday. This is the 50th exhibition under the Exhibit of the Week displayed in the audience as The first Exhibit of the Month of May, through official website, Facebook, Instagram and twitter page of the IGRMS. In this regard Director of IGRMS Dr Praveen Kumar Mishra, said that Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (National Museum of Mankind). Initially, this series will focus on the masterpieces from its collection which are considered as unique for their contribution to the cultural history of a particular ethnic group or area.

 

Baksa is a rectangular wooden box made of local seasoned wood and its outer surface is covered with deer skin. This object was collected from Himachal Pradesh, a northern state of India. The beautifully designed metal plate fittings at the corner makes the Baksa more appealing. It was used to store clothes and other precious belongings. The decoration of household objects among the folk communities is purely personal taste.

 

In past decades skins of animals, including the wild animals, were used to fulfill multiple necessities like clothing, shoes, furniture, household decorations etc. Now a days, the use of wild animals skins are limited to a great extent due to ban on the poaching of wild animals. Therefore, such objects are now rare and unique and can mostly be seen as a part of museum collection.