40,000 shell varieties collected by one man converted into museum

Every child that’s grown up around a beach would have had memories of running to the moist shore to pick up seashells of various colours and sizes. 

Raja Mohamed’s story also began this way, when he was just a teenager. Hailing from an underprivileged family, he had to begin working at the age of 19 to provide for his home so he ventured into the sea as a fish merchant. 

Once, a beautiful shell got caught in Raja’s net and his fascination for it intensified his hunger to become a collector. His business was a success and his seashell stash grew too. 

“Over the years, my father began sourcing and purchasing rare species of oysters, clams, mollusks, conches, etc. from all over the world to expand the miscellanea,” says his son Mohamed Riswan, a software engineer by profession who also manages the museum. 

Wherever Raja spotted a shell he liked, he would purchase it, whether it was from another collector or a fisherman. It wasn’t just while travelling that he scoured for his precious paraphernalia, “While some shells are from the shore, my dad even goes scuba diving to procure priceless pieces. Even now, wherever he travels, be it on work or for personal reasons, he can’t come back without a treasure from the ocean,” he laughs. 

“My father eventually felt that there was no point in just stashing up all of this in a room, so he decided he wanted it to show it to a lot of people,” he says and we know exactly what happened. On September 10, 2013, the India Seashell Museum was opened in Mamallapuram. The museum spread over one and a half acres, houses 40,000 varieties and many rare species like the pink conch, gold-lipped oysters, abalone, murex and more. 

“We have the world’s smallest shells resembling that of a snail’s as well as a 55-centimetre-long Australian trumpet ( Syrinx aru anus ) that is touted to be the largest shell in India.” 

It doesn’t come as a surprise that visitors throng the India Seashell Museum due to the many attractions it offers — there’s something for everyone. 

“The support from the public has been immense; whoever has visited so far has only had positive things to say,” smiles Riswan. For those who wish to collect their own memorabilia, the museum also has a store called Maya Bazar, which houses handicrafts made from shells and pearl jewellery.