In the year 2017, Rung Museum in Dharchula opened it doors to locals and tourists who were eager to get a glimpse of the life and times of the elusive Rung Tribes of Pithoragarh.
The double-storied pink building is hard to miss. It stands tall in the heart of the Dharchula main market, on the Indian Nepal road. Open six days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 and then from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. except on Sundays and Government Holidays, the Rung Museum has a lot to offer to its visitors.
A wonderland of ancient artefacts, buildings, art and craft, manuscripts some over 100 to 250 years old bring alive tales of the Rung Tribes which live in the Darma, Chaudas and Vyas Valley, even today.
Called ‘The Pride of Dharchula’ the Rung Museum is continuously adding more exquisite items to its catalogue that gives the walk-ins a glance of the rich cultural heritage of the tribes that flourish in this part of the hill-state. Handlooms, artistic wooden door and window frames, cloth, jewelry, utensils, crop, costumes bring alive a typical Rung village within the museum’s four-walls.
Ritesh Garbyal, the Curator and his team of three others who help in maintaining the Rung Museum, tells us, “In the past one and half years we have had close to four thousand five hundred locals as well as tourists walk in through our doors. Our visitors from home and abroad are amazed at the layout of the artefacts that we have painstakingly collected over a long period of time, restored and put on display. ”
While the entry ticket for Dharchula residents is a nominal 10/- rupees, folks from other states have to give Rupees 50/- and foreigners have to shell out Rupees 100/-, to enter the museum. Once inside, the visitor is transported back in time, living amongst the elusive tribes of the Dharchula belt, an experience worth the trip.
