Alappuzha in Kerala is known as the Venice of the East thanks to the rivers, placid backwaters and lakes dotting the region. The beach along the Arabian Sea and the canals meandering along the city has made it a popular tourist destination.
Unknown to most people, Alappuzha, the nerve centre of India’s coir industry, is home to the world’s largest collection of artefacts and art works made of ivory, crystal, porcelain and exotic wood. Not only that, the city has the largest private collection of Swaroski, Lladro, Capo de monte art works.
An initiative by Betty Karunakaran, who could be addressed as Kerala’s cultural czarina, has evolved into a treasure house which outsmarts the best individual collection anywhere in the world.
The visitors’ diary at Revi Karuna Karan Memorial Museum bears comments substantiating this observation. Connoisseurs of art works and avantgarde artists like Bose Krishnamachari were left spellbound after watching the museum, conceived, realised and even curated by Betty.
This museum is a tribute by Betty to her loving husband late Revi Karuna Karan, the doyen of modern coir industry in India. “His grandfather Krishnan and father Karunakaran were into coir business. Revi took off from where they left,” explained Betty in a tete-a-tete with The Pioneer.
Both Krishnan and Karunakaran were regular travellers all over the world as part of the coir business.
Karunakaran had his education in Europe, the UK and the USA and was the first global citizen of Kerala. Revi too had his education from Europe and the USA.
“Revi was travelling most of the time to Europe, Africa and the USA as part of the family business. The number of coir factories owned by the family shot up to nine during his tenure. He was honoured by Air India as the most frequent flyer. I accompanied him in all his business tours. While he was discussing business with his clients, I chose shopping and that too shops and museums famous for collection of artefacts,” reminiscences Betti.
The net result led to the establishment of the museum. A stroll along the museum takes the visitor to a trip to the ancient world. A “Churulan Vallam” (single seat manually operated small boat) welcomes the visitor. The Churulan was the mode of transport between the islands that dot the backwaters and lakes of Alappuzha’s landscape. Then there is the 1948 model Buick Super car imported from the USA by Revi’s father Karunakaran. “This was the car in which I and Revi travelled from my house at Kollam to this house after our marriage function,” said Betti. The car has been maintained in an immaculate condition even now.
The Swarovski and Lladro collections feature some of the breath-taking creations which bear the signature of the magic fingers that carved out them. “Though the statues are made out of marble, crystals and ivory, they do have life in them and elevate us to the world of divine love,”, said S Sasidharan, a business man from Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu who travelled all the way by car to catch glimpse of the collection.
Sasidharan was enthralled by the Laadro statues as well as the uniquely designed and carved liquor bottles and containers. Betty had travelled to more than 138 countries and rare artefacts from these places adore the museum. It is the style in which they have been arranged that add to the beauty of the collections. “The journeys remain unfinished. The trip to Antarctica got botched up in 2019 due to a hailstorm. I have to visit the north and south poles,” said Betty.
The boat races in the Punnamada River are long gone… they have become a ritual over the years. But the RKK Museum compensates for that shortcoming.
