India’s first museum dedicated to alcohol has opened in Goa. Aiming to attract the locals and tourists, the “all about alcohol’ museum is set up by a local businessman Nandan Kudchadkar. Nandan, who is a collector of antiques, has come up with such a museum to make the world aware of Goa’s rich heritage, promoting Goa’s local drink of Feni.
“When I thought of creating a concept like this, the first thought that came to my mind was if there is an alcohol museum in the world. There is absolutely no place where you can see the kind of stuff pertaining to alcohol anywhere in the world. If you go to Scotland, they are very happy about their waters, drinks, etc. Similarly, in Russia, the people feel happy to showcase the drinks they have,” he was quoted as saying.
Located in Candolim village in North Goa, the museum accommodates hundreds of artifacts linked to Feni, including large, traditional glass vats in which the local cashew-based alcohol used to be stored centuries ago. “When we come to India, we project alcohol differently,” Nandan added. “Following my instincts, I decided to set up India’s first museum dedicated to alcohol.”
As per the CEO of Alcohol Museum, Armando Duarte, Kaju Feni is Goa’s one of most prominent drinks and it has been put on display at the Alcohol Museum. “This drink is fermented naturally. For Goans, the consumption of alcohol was a symbol of hospitality,” he said.
Tourists feel that the museum contains a lot of information about alcohol, especially about the local drinks. “The amount of information preserved here is amazing. I am dazed and awestruck with the place. The amount of information, they have kept here for visitors to see is super amazing,” a tourist was quoted as saying.
