Saputara Museum, a small museum located at the heart of the cit near the main market in Saputara city, displays the various lifestyles and culture of the tribal populace. Museum provides spectacular exhibition of variety of clothes, utensils, traditional artifacts, lifestyles, house objects, musical instruments, ornaments, and many such objects which are used by the native tribal Dangis.
About Saputara Tribal Museum in Gujarat :
Located at Saputara, in the Dang district of Gujarat, the Saputara Tribal Museum showcases interesting tribal lifestyle and culture. Although small in size, it portrays the culture of ‘adivasi’ (tribal) people. The Dang district consists of 300 villages and the maximum population residing here comprises of adivasis. The museum is an attempt to portray the life history and the methods used by the Dang tribe in particular, but it also represents the culture of Bhils, Kunbis, Gamits, and Warlis amongst other tribal communities.
Saputara Tribal Museum has on display the attires, ornaments and utensils used by the Dang tribe. It also displays paintings and wall hangings made by different tribes along with a proper description of the same. You can check out some peculiar ornaments made of grass, stuffed birds and other articles that the tribals used for decorating their homes.
The huge storage vessels made of straw and mud, and other bamboo handicrafts including pen stand, jewellery, and the magnificent wooden carved articles are simply amazing. The aborigine musical instruments like Mohri Pava and Pavri, and the masks worn by the adivasis during their traditional dance performances are also present in the museum.
It will be certainly enjoyable to look at the peculiar tattoos worn by adivasis and the clay made objects used by them for rituals and daily use. A walk through this museum will expose you to things that you have never seen before. The sight of raw, rustic and yet extremely simple lifestyle of these tribal people will reach out to your hearts spurring you to appreciate them.
Trivia :
A number of workshops on handicrafts are conducted in the museum. So if you want to learn the aborigine handicrafts, then attend one of these!
Best time to visit :
One can visit the Saputara Tribal Museum anytime of the year, though the winter months may be best as the weather at that time is favourable.
Timing :
The museum remains open from 10:30 am till 5:00 pm.
How To Get There :
By road: The town of Waghai is 51 km away. Ahmedabad: 409 km. Surat: 164 km. Mumbai: 250 km. Vadodara: 309 km. There are State Transport buses and private luxury coaches from Waghai and Ahmedabad. If you are coming by a private car, than National Highway might be quicker, but the state highway will offers a stunningly scenic drive.
By rail: The nearest railway station is Waghai, on the Billimora-Waghai narrow gauge section of the Western Railway. For those coming from Gujarat via Surat or Ahmedabad or even from Mumbai, Billimora is the more convenient rail head, and a direct bus service is available from there.
By air: The nearest airport is Vadodara, 309 km away.