Hastha Shilpa Heritage Museum, Manipal History & visitor info

My visit to Hastha Shilpa Heritage Museum has been pending for years and it finally happened last weekend, thanks to Wikimedia foundation’s QR Code Project.

Hastha Shilpa is a large campus full of 20-25 homes signifying traditions, design and culture that were prevailing in coastal area and few other regions. Homes that were centuries old and were about to be dismantled or demolished by its current generation owners are carefully dismantled, transported and reconstructed in Hasthashilpa campus so that visitors can get a glimpse of the heritage- how lifestyles were centuries ago.

There is an interesting history how this museum was conceptualized. Listen to it in below video from the voice of HasthaShilpa’s manager. [Watch on Youtube]

What to expect inside the museum?

Standby for a detailed post. But in brief you can expect the following at Hasthashilpa Heritage Museum, Manipal

• Around 20+ historic/ancient homes with unique designs reconstructed and displayed
• Vintage artefacts like typewriters, lamps, fans, sewing machines, bangles, pots, ceramic plates etc
• Additional attractions like 2 vintage cars, chariots, horse carts, temple structures etc

Why Hastha Shilpa Manipal entry ticket is 300 INR?

Hasthashilpa has an entry ticket of 300 INR per person, which feels high for normal people. But there is a purpose behind it- to weed out tourist crowd not really serious about heritage. If they had kept the price at 30 or 50 INR, 10x more tourists would have come, but managing them would be a nightmare. People who are not sensitive to rules & regulations, people who don’t appreciate the heritage and the need to preserve them might damage the invaluable artefacts and buildings inside Hasthashilpa in their quest to take selfies etc. Higher entry fee automatically weeds out not so serious people looking for time pass.

Hastha Shilpa Heritage Museum Visitor info:

• Timing: 10 AM to 5 PM
• Entry fee: 300 INR per adult, 150 for students with ID Card
• Time required to explore: 2 to 3 hours minimum
• Facilities available: Toilets. Drinking water. (No café/restaurant)
• Official website: https://heritagevillagemanipal.org/Homepage.html

Also be informed that Hastha Shilpa is continuously growing- more houses are being added, many materials are being revived

What else to see nearby?

Manipal lake is less than a km away if you wish to take a stroll. 

Salumarada Thimmakka Tree park, Museum of Anatomy and Pathology, Arbi falls (seasonal) End Point park are nearby.