Siddhagiri Museum, Kolhapur, Maharashtra

This museum showcases different aspects of Gramjivan (village life). ‘Gram’ means ‘village’ and ‘jivan’ means ‘life’ in Marathi language. This initiative was dream project of Mahatma Gandhi, visually and symbolically created through the vision and efforts of Siddhagiri Gurukul Foundation Trust. The history of self-sufficient village life before invasion of Mughals in Maharshtra is depicted here in the form of cement sculptures. Each sculpture is lifelike and has a multi dimensional effect and lifestyle theme. There were 12 ALUTEDARS (12 main profession-based castes i.e. Professions performed from generation to generations by families) and 18 BALUTEDARS, who provided equipments to all villagers to fulfill their day-to-day necessities (domestic as well as professional).

The museum is spread over 7 acres area and has almost 80 scenes which showcase more than 300 statues. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and is surrounded with lush greenery. Every aspect of village life has been depicted in this museum. It is a perfect blend of fact, powerful imagination and enormous hard work in getting the lifelike expressions of the whole village.