page_title: DakshinaChitra
section_title: Artefacts
hierarchical_section_title: DakshinaChitra / Collection / Artefacts
caption_attribution_description: English: Dakshina-Chitra-Household-Items-2
context_page_description: DakshinaChitra is a living-history museum in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, dedicated to South Indian heritage and culture. It is located 25 kilometres to the south of Chennai. Opened to the public on 14 December 1996, the museum was founded and is being managed by the Madras Craft Foundation. The MCF was established in 1984. Deborah Thiagarajan, an Indian art historian of American origin, governs the museum. The museum is built on 10 acres of land taken on a 33-year lease from the Government of Tamil Nadu. Located at Muttukadu, on the East Coast Road connecting Chennai and Pondicherry, the site overlooks Bay of Bengal.
  Developed as a heritage village, DakshinaChitra has an array of displays and relocated originals of dwellings depicting the life pattern of people in the states of southern India. The exhibits portray the architecture, art, folk performing-arts and craft of South Indian traditions. The amenities include a research unit, crafts bazaar, playground, an area to hold religious functions, stone workshop, and souvenir kiosks. There are craftsmen who permanently work at DakshinaChitra who demonstrate or explain how they make their wares.
context_section_description: The collection consists of items of daily life used in the southern states. As of 2014, there were 4,220 artefacts on display; 3,200 are objects 950 are textiles and 70 contemporary works. The textile collection consists of  cotton and silk attires of male (dhoti, lungi, kurta, turban, cap, ceremonial attire), female (saree, blouse, half saree, full skirt, set mundu, veil, scarf), furnishings, yardage (Real Madras Handkerchief, Ikat, Kalamkari etc. ), Telia Rumal, decorative wall hangings and ritual textiles. The entire display is in the English language, and highlights the cultural aspects of people and the craft traditions of heritage homes of South India.
caption: Household items in museum collection
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.", "Image Model": "VG110,D700", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "314", "Image YResolution": "314", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Version 1.0", "Image DateTime": "2012:12:28 15:57:51", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "852", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 37, 0, 1, 0, 20, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5680", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9960", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2", "EXIF FNumber": "29/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Creative", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:12:28 15:57:51", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:12:28 15:57:51", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "307/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "24/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5556", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}