"We have a folk music museum?"
Indeed it's tucked away from the main road, in a rather unassuming semi-residential Guthi owned area. There is an under construction temple on one side whereas the other side seems to house a couple of families. There are TV noises coming from the inside, kids run around playing their games, and houses wives busy themselves washing and drying clothes. It's certainly not an area for a museum. But there it is. At the very end of the row of the traditional semi-residential building, one can walk into Kathmandu's one and only Folk Musical Instrument Museum.
"It all began with a Sankha. This is Ram Prasad Kadel's vision and collections," says Homnath Bhandari, secretary and caretaker of the Museum. It's just the two of them managing the whole exhibition. Since Kadel is abroad at the moment, Bhandari took on the responsibility to explain the history of the place.
"Back in 1993, as an offering to his teacher, Ram wanted to contribute something to the society. He isn't a musician, however, he thought it would be interesting to discover, collect and preserve our Nepali folk instruments. So he put a Sankha in his bag and began his travels through various districts. Today we have around 600 instruments in our possession," informs Bhandari.
Their collection is an extensive one. Bhandari points at a pair of ancient looking drums and calls it asene dyangro. "These are used by Lamas in the upper Kaski region. They specifically use it for their magical rituals. If there is risk of hailstorm during harvest season, they use these drums to redirect the path of the hailstones."
And so it continues. Each one of the folk instruments at the museum seems to have a fascinating background. For instance, they also have the likes of ghokhi, which looks like a madal but is said to have a pair of an enchanted ram's horns attached to it. They clearly date back generations, to times that perhaps still might be largely unknown. For example, the era where people from the Brahmin community did not eat goat meat. Since their beliefs at the time forbid them to associate with anything that had to do with the animal, turns out the members of the Brahmin community made their own ardha madal which was made out of monkey's skin.
In this way, the museum with the folk instruments is collecting parts of our history and culture. Kadel and Bhandari have traveled far and wide in their quest to discover the various different music and instruments played in our country.
"As it turns out there isn't an ethnic group in our country that doesn't have their own instruments. We found that even primitive groups like the Kusundas have been using plant leaves to create music. Nepal isn't only geographically diverse but musically eclectic as well. The location of the people also plays a big role in the instruments they play. In fact, it seems those ethnic groups who traveled a lot have adopted different melodies from their experience," says Bhandari.
Apparently there have been instances where two villages from the same district owned distinctly different types of instruments and created and enjoyed different music. Considering such versatility, Nepal Folk Musical Instrument Museum is struggling to keep tabs of it all. Through their travels and their informants, they try and hunt down new instruments. In places where the music scene is still alive they ask people to replicate the instrument. However, just in case the younger generation is not interested in playing the instrument, they ask them to donate it. While some are more than happy to help out, Bhandari shares that there are also some who demand an unreasonably high price.
The challenges don't end here for Kadel and Bhandari who are trying to run this folk music museum. Truth be told, it's just the beginning. At the moment, they are focusing their energies on documenting details of the instruments they have in hand as well as archiving the videotapes of various folk music players playing their instruments. But as always it is like a race against time.
"Since it is just the two of us who are officially involved with the museum there is a lot that has to be done. We are really behind on the archiving process. There more than 150 instruments that we have not displayed yet because we have not had the time to research about them. What's worse is that while in the store some instruments have suffered irreparable damages. We will probably never find out the history behind them or hear them being played," laments Bhandari.
The Nepal Folk Musical Instrument Museum is trying it's best to preserve authentic folk instruments whose sounds shapes our Nepali identity. At a time when young Nepalis would rather reach out for a guitar than a sarangi, they are fully aware of the importance of their project. The logistics may be against them especially since the earthquake has left the museum in a precarious condition but still, they plan to keep at it.
"Sadly many don't realize this but music is such a fascinating way to rediscover our identity. Every instrument here has a story so despite the difficulties we plan to stay open for those who wish to explore the musical facet of our heritage," concludes Bhandari.
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