Manjusha Museum

Manjusha Museum, Dharmasthala
	Manjusha Museum
Established	1989
Type	Private museum
Collection size	8000 artifacts
Founder	Dr. Veerendra Heggade
Curator	Ritesh Sharma

Manjusha Museum is situated in the holy town of Dharmasthala in Karnataka state, India. It houses a good collection of objects, antiques, paintings, artifacts, temple chariots, vintage and classic cars.^[1] These were collected from temples across Karnataka. The museum is located to the south of the famous Lord Manjunatha temple.

Story of Manjusha

The Manjusha Museum was founded by Shree D. Veerendra Heggade, driven by his commitment to preserving the historical utensils of the Dharmasthala temple. When Shree D. Veerendra Heggade took on the responsibility of being the Pattadhikari of Dharmasthala, the temple's old utensils were set to be replaced with new ones. Recognizing the beauty and historical value of the old items, he chose to preserve them, displaying them in showcases.

The first collection of artifacts was exhibited in the Glasshouse, which was originally the residence of Manjaya Heggade, the father of D. Veerendra Heggade. A section on the first floor of the Glasshouse was designated for these artifacts, and it became known as the Glasshouse Collection. A few years later, Tippaswami, a renowned artist from Mysore's Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA) and a professor at Mysore University, visited Dharmasthala. Upon seeing the collection, he suggested establishing a museum. Tippaswami became the first curator, expanding the collection and developing a comprehensive documentation system that included drawings of the artifacts.

When the museum was officially opened, it was named Manjusha Museum. S. D. Shetty was appointed as the first official curator. Shetty played a significant role in expanding the collection by visiting villages and requesting donations of manuscripts and old utensils. He dedicated many years to collecting artifacts from Karnataka and beyond.

Another notable contributor was Govind Raju, an art collector who added a substantial number of artifacts to the collection through his travels across Karnataka. According to Shree D. Veerendra Heggade, despite occasional disagreements, he always valued Raju's dedication to collecting artifacts, often acquiring entire collections that Raju brought to him.^{[citation needed]}

The growth of the Manjusha Museum was made possible by the combined efforts of these three experts—Tippaswami, S. D. Shetty, and Govind Raju—along with Shree D. Veerendra Heggade. Over time, the collection outgrew the existing building, necessitating a new space. In 2019, the Manjusha Museum was relocated to a new building and inaugurated. The design and curation of the new museum were overseen by Ritesh Sharma, a museologist who had previously designed galleries in Gwalior's Scindia Palace. Ritesh Sharma was entrusted with the establishment of the new Manjusha Museum.^{[citation needed]}

Since the museum has been adding and improvising collection of mankind. Manjusha Museum has two units of Museum. 1. Manjusha Car museum 2. Manjusha Vastu Sangrahalaya

Collection

The museum preserves terracotta coins from Mauryan period, dating around 1st century BC, an ancient book containing the accounts of the Manjunatha Swamy temple, a 300 yr old Veena, a musical instrument of Vidhwan Veene Sheshanna. It has a vast collection of Indian stone and metal sculpture, paintings, items of jewellery, objects of worship and utilitarian objects created by the craftsmen of the coastal area. Different size cameras.

The museum also houses a collection of 6000 palm leaf manuscripts.