Under the latest and popular online series of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) entitled 'Exhibit of the Week', the "chuneta" lime and tobacco container of brass, collected from 1998 are on display. The Soni Community of Tikamghar Madhya Pradesh, displayed to the audience "The Third Exhibit" of the month of April, 2021 through the official websites and social media pages of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya.
In this regard Praveen Kumar Mishra, Director, IGRMS said that initially, the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (National Museum of Mankind) will focus on the masterpieces from its collection which are considered as unique for their contribution to the cultural history of a particular ethnic group or area. Chuneta is a brass container used for keeping lime and tobacco. It is cylindrical in shape having two hemispherical knobbed lids at both ends.
He said: "The inner space has two segments. The larger space is used to keep tobacco, whereas, the shallow space is used for keeping lime or chuna”.
Both the knobbed lids are connected through a brass chain. The entire outer body has intricate geometric designs with flowers and leaves. Chuneta is primarily a tobacco container and speaks of the user to be very passionate in nature. It is prepared by the Soni community residing in Madhya Pradesh and neighboring states. They primarily make jewellery and other utilitarian and art objects on demand of the user.