Welcome Group Graduate School of Hotel Management (WAGSHA) of Manipal Academy of Higher Education Enters Limca Book of Records for its India’s First Living Culinary Arts Museum at WGSHA
Manipal: Team WGSHA is proud to announce that the culinary museum in WGSHA has been listed in Limca Book of Records as India’s First Living Culinary Arts Museum. Limca Book of Records (LBR) is a catalogue of achievements made by Indians, at home and abroad in diverse fields of human endeavour. LBR is a celebration of exemplary exploits and recognizes accomplishments such as firsts, inventions, discoveries, honours, awards and the truly extraordinary.
Chef Thirugnanasambantham, Principal of WGSHA, while thanking MAHE and ITC Leadership for extending all support towards instituting this museum in Manipal and WGSHA, also appreciated and thanked all those who have directly or indirectly helped towards setting up this museum in Manipal. Chef Thiru said, “The process for WGSHA’s culinary museum to make an entry into the popular Limca Book of Records started almost six months back and after validation by LBR recently, has been listed in the book of records. We are glad that we could be the first of its kind in such endeavor and we also hope to be in Guinness World Records soon.”
On the background of having the museum, he said, “We are indeed grateful to Michelin-starred Indian Celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna, the Founder and curator of this Museum, who had this idea of establishing a culinary museum and donated thousands of kitchen tools and equipment worth millions of dollars to this museum for preserving history of India’s rich tradition of culinary arts and to educate the future generations. Chef Vikas Khanna, ‘Distinguished Alumnus’ of WGSHA, being very desirous of making such a museum in India, what better place it would be than in his own Alma Mater!”
Chef Thiru mentioned that Udupi, popular for the famous ‘Udupi Cuisine’, and being a temple town, is adjacent to International University Town of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). MAHE is home to thousands of International students and visitors. With great heritage of Udupi, combined with the large number of Indian and International students residing in an around Manipal, it was very apt for the college to create a museum for today’s Indian youth and the International visitors to understand the rich culinary heritage of India, through the priceless kitchen tools and equipment donated by Chef Vikas Khanna.
‘This Museum’, Chef Thiru said, “Has placed WGSHA in global culinary map and we are proud to have joined all such efforts to preserve the history of cuisines and cultures across the world.”
The culinary arts academic block housing the museum was opened in April, 2018, spread approximately over 25,000 sq. ft., and is shaped in the form of a giant pot very similar to the ones found in Harappa. There are historical as well as regular household items such as plates made by the Portuguese in India, a 100-year-old ladle used to dole out food at temples and bowls dating to the Harappan era, an old seed sprinkler, an ancient Kashmiri tea brewer known as ‘samovar’, vessels from the Konkan, Udupi and Chettinad regions, apart from a large collection of rolling pins, utensils of all shapes and sizes, tea strainers of different types etc.