#seashellmuseum

a Kiran Komail Places Blog.

Rubbernecking into the horizon. 

I always wanted to go on a boat ride in the sea. I also have a fisherman anna (brother in Tamil) Karuna, who has promised to take me into the sea. When he called this weekend that went by. My friend and I, gleaming with cheer rushed to his humble abode only to learn that “the sea was calm and smooth when I called you amma and even till a while ago. But now the tides are fierce and rough I can’t risk taking you on a ride now.”

La Mar and her moods, I sigh!

After a few minutes of waiting and rubbernecking into the horizon, my friend said: “Why not drive to Mahabs (Need I say Mahabalipuram?) and grabbed a bite at The Wharf?” After an awesome meal, we decided to go further ahead. Few minutes of driving and we reached an intriguing diversion on the second entrance of Mahabs. We asked Google what lies ahead - India Seashell Museum, blinked the screen… Now, I love shells remember!

The entrance of the Museum

At the counter of the museum, greeted by a giant nautilus shell and a lace murex (both made from clay). This looked like some big Kunstkabinett and I couldn’t wait to see what lay in it. A museum escort guided us and also introduced us to K Raja Mohamed, the man who owned the place. “He not only owns the place but also owns the 40,000 shells that are showcased here. Each shell has been handpicked by him,” said the escort. One would wonder how a simple man like that could own a museum and as many as 40,000 SHELLS! I had to know the story!

K Raja Mohamed with Abdul Kalam.

I asked Mohamed and so, began a tale that took us to Rameswaram in 1979, where he began collecting shells as a young boy. Bargaining with fishermen, strolling the beach for hours and dipping himself into the sea over and over again “just so I could own those beautiful shells,” he says.

We cover a span of 35 years in one-hour, diving through (in my imagination of course) the seabeds of Japan Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, America, Australia and many more countries where from Mohamed collected almost 2,000 species of seashells. The humongous collection is also “the world’s largest individual collection of seashells,” he adds.

The Birth Maria shell.

Having got a glimpse into the history of the museum from the man who picked each and every shell that hung in there our enthusiastic escort made sure we saw the main highlights of the museum. We stopped at the Birth Maria shell case which is “one among the four found in the world so far,” he said. Next, we were shown the Stone Collector shells that attracts other shells and stones to its own body: no, this one isn’t a parasite but attracts other particles to it as a defence mechanism. We also caught glimpses of the gastropod shells that were in ancient days used to measure or amount rice and pulses. Each shell has a story and imagine 2000 such tales. “Only Sir (Mohamed) will be able to tell you where and when he found it,” he says.

We also got to see the ‘God shells’ – that is what I would call them - one with the name of Allah engraved naturally and another in the perfect shape of Ganeshji. “No cross?” asked my friend. (To which we received an awkward yet polite smile. Perhaps the best way to deal with idiots. LOL). We were attracted to the heart shaped cockles (these are also shells. PS: Don’t read wrong 😉). There were different heart shells, different colors, and patterns but the one that stole my heart was a Fragum Onedo that had the hues of pink fading into a yellow stain.

An artist named Selvam, from Chennai, has crafted the Means of Transport – a car, a train, an airplane and a ship out of oyster shell. I could see many kids line up by the airplane trying to touch the glass cases they were stored in. The museum staff politely distracted the kids to look at the smallest shells in the museum. They were the size of ladybirds. May be even smaller.

Then there is also the Maya Bazaar, the shell market inside the premises. I picked up a few oyster shells, scallops, and solarium all different shapes and beautiful natural hues. The Museum also houses a 4D theatre room, a dinosaur’s park, a pearl museum and an aquarium that allows you to touch and feel a few sea creatures.

To my surprise, they had an electric eel that looked quite dangerous. They also had a mini version of the piranha fish and we got to see a deadly demo. “They can eat up an entire elephant in less than five minutes,” said the aquarium in charge. Then there is a sea fossil that sucks out the blood from other fishes’ bodies.

Right when I thought this was getting all to bloody we were shown a ‘Nimo’ fish. Tiny, cute and a real version. We were allowed to touch crabs, lobsters, and a starfish but of course under the supervision of the trained aquarium staff. And we spent 15 minutes enjoying the Nibbler Fish Pedicure. To top it all off, the kissing fish gouramis, kissed us goodbye.

Kissing fish Gouramis, kissed us goodbye.

We spent an amazing day. Sure, I couldn’t ride into the sea but I got all the shells I wanted.