After the independence of India, First and Second Five Year Plans envisaged various projects and schemes for preservation and development of handicrafts. Establishment of a Crafts Museum was an integral part of this policy. The core collection of the Crafts Museum was put together in the 1950s and' 60z to serve as reference material for the craftsmen whose hereditary traditions were fading on the face of modern industrialization.
The low-lying museum building, is appropriate for displaying India's rural and tribal arts, and act as metaphor for an Indian village street - affable, accommodative and active. A walk across the Crafts Museum building would be through open and semi open passages covered with sloping, tiled roofs and lined with old carved wooden jharokhas, doors, windows, utensils and storage jars and perforated iron screens; through courtyards having domed pigeon houses adorned with arches and lattice work panels, terracotta shrines dedicated to basil plants, massive temple chariots and vermilion covered anionic wayside altars, providing every now and then a peep through a window into vast museum galleries. The Scales and proportions of the building are based on those of the traditional Indian village where objects of everyday life are hand made and used.
The Collection:
The Museum's collection of about 22,000 objects, covers a range of bronze images, lamps and incense burners; ritual accessories; utensils and other items of everyday use; wood and stone carving; papier mache; ivories, dolls, toys, puppets and masks; jewellery; decorative metalware including bidri work; paintings; terracotta and cane and bamboo work. The Museum's rare collections include carved wooden figures of the bhutas, folk deities of coastal Karnataka; tribal bronzes from Chhattisgarh; carved wooden architecture of Gujarat represented by a whole haveli (traditional house), jharokha (balcony) and a palatial facade; embroidered, beaded and printed wall hangings; saris employing techniques of brocade, ikat, jamdani and tie-and-dye. The above collection is displayed in five galleries as mentioned in the classified information. Moreover, there is a reference collection, comprising about 15,000 objects which can be used by scholars, designers, craftsmen and interested public for study and research.