Impression of the Salar Jung Museum
In the period leading up to Christmas, we travelled to a very special destination, namely Hyderabad in India. Our 10-day visit to the Salar Jung Museum turned out to be extremely interesting, not only because the museum has an exceptionally great collection, but also because the people in charge were happy to exchange ideas with us, and because there were many exciting manuscripts to see. We were able to talk to the directors, who showed us the library up close.
Theresa and Ilse at work at Salar Jung Museum
During our preparations at home, we had already selected the manuscripts in advance due to their excellent presentation in the multi-volume catalogues – namely only those that also contained decorated or coloured paper. Particularly important in Hyderabad, for example, is the blue, regionally produced Hyderabadi paper, which is one of Theresa’s specialties. Ilse also had wonderful manuscripts with stencils, for example those featuring the name of ‚Abd al-Aziz. Many thanks to everyone involved for the opportunity to explore the manuscripts using our equipment!
Charminar, Chowmahalla Palace, official building
In the evenings, we visited the sights of the old town such as Charminar, the Chowmahalla Palace, and the Archaeological Museum. We also strolled through the bazaars in search of spicy (and not so spicy!) food. We made lots of nice acquaintances as well.
We would like to come back soon for further, more detailed analyses and for a workshop with the Centre for the Studies of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) in Hamburg. Looking forward to returning!
Theresa and Ilse with visitors to the Salar Jung Museum