[ Prem Chetry ]
CHUG, 14 Oct: Meet 24 years old Leike Chomu, who has turned her 200-year-old paternal ancestors’ house in Pangsa in Chug Valley in West Kameng district into a living museum.
“This is my ancestors’ house. Modernity has swept over our cultural heritage to some extent. Old houses and structures are being replaced by RCCs, and we are compromising our past with the future, in doing which we are losing our cultural heritage, the traditional architecture and traditional family bonding of living together,” Chomu, a bachelor’s degree holder in agriculture from Himalayan University, Itanagar, said.
“Building structures and compartments are built according to need and family members these days. However, in those days, a family used to live together in a single-room house furnished with a kitchen at the centre,” she said, and added that “the family bonding and attachment of living together was something more precious than living in separate rooms.”
The 200-year-old traditional Monpa house is nestled on a gentle slope in Pangsa village. It costs Rs 100 for visiting the museum, which includes snacks at a cafeteria shed midway up the slope.
The living museum, a well-furnished traditional house, showcases all the traditional utensils, wooden crockery, earthen pots, bamboo and cane baskets, leather bags, clothes racks, and the fireplace at the centre. The attic facilitates storing foodgrains and crops.
