Part of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark comprises of a few of islands, with Copenhagen as their capital. The National Museum in Copenhagen stands witness to the Danish detailed recording skills. Even locals are extremely proud of their culture, and seen visiting the museum on a Sunday morning with their young children to learn about their own history, including attending an exhibition on the Vikings. The museum is carefully divided into many sections across three floors, including one that talks about the Hindu Gods.
In the section on the ‘Voices from the Colonies’, an area is cordoned off, a realistic street scene has been recreated from the town of Serampore in West Bengal, India- with quintessential Bengali posters under model street lamps. There is a window where one could access a special video made on The Goswami Palace in Serampore or that of the St Olav’s Church Diocese of Calcutta.
Serampore was a Danish colony from 1755-1845. In fact, Serampore was one of Denmark’s largest cities and home to Denmark’s third largest universities.
Right in the centre of that room, which has wall to wall pictures of the city’s streets, homes and shops, stands a model vendor van, something we see in every nook and corner of Bengal’s streets today, selling from Bengali newspapers to titbits.
The Danish had first landed in South India in 1620, at the village of Tharangambadi (Tranquebar), where they built a fort and European-style houses.
A section in the museum has also been attributed to 'The Weaver of Porayar' talking about a South Indian family of weavers (Raman), spinning out cotton dhoti. A statue of Vishnu was also kept in the section- symbolising local family worship, an example Reverend Fuglsang brought back, when he travelled as an envoy to Thanjavur.
A section on Hindu Gods is also on display under the ‘People of the earth’ section. To build interest in visitors, there is a huge idol of Goddess Kali by artist Kartick Chandra Paul of Kolkata displayed at the reception. There is also a Ganesh statue opposite, tucked in a quiet corner, next to the children's museum section.
