The Forest department is all set to establish Kerala’s first sandal museum at Marayur in Idukki soon. According to Forest department officials, the new museum will be a major attraction at Marayur which has the country’s only natural sandalwood forest. Last month, Minister of Forests A.K. Saseendran announced the museum project.
Sandal reserve divisional forest officer (DFO) M.G. Vinod Kumar told The Hindu that the department has initiated steps to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the museum project. “The Sandal Museum aims at providing comprehensive details about sandalwood. The museum will include information about the history of sandalwood, myths associated with sandal, its present status, distribution, protection methods, demand, sandal products, value and classifications as well as about the threats it faces,” said Mr. Kumar.
“Apart from an opportunity to get to know about sandalwood through touch, smell and valuable information, visitors can purchase various sandal products from the museum. The DPR preparation is going on and we will submit it to the government soon for approval,” said the official.
