Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Aug 25 - Children studying gurukul style in the shade of a tree, farmers having lunch in the fields, cowherds milking their cows...The scene is that of a typical Indian village - yet not a soul stirs. With its lifelike sculptures, the Siddhagiri Museum in Kolhapur district, around 400 km south of Mumbai, is India's answer to Madame Tussauds in London.

'Though the idea was derived from Madame Tussauds, the concept is taken from Gandhiji's philosophy on the importance of the rural economy,' explains Adrushya Kadhsiddheshwar Swami, head of the Siddhagiri Gurukul Trust that constructed the unique museum. 'Gandhiji wanted each village to be an independent entity, playing its role in the national economy.'

The museum also depicts a number of ancient Indian sages.

For instance, under a huge tree, a class under the traditional gurukul system is in progress. 'This is the great Maharishi Patanjali conducting a class in the ancient Indian style,' says Adrushya Swami, the 27th head of the Siddhagiri Math, which has been a Hindu pilgrim centre for years.

A few metres ahead is the life-size statue of sage Kashyap treating a sick infant even as his distraught mother looks on, and on the opposite side, maharishi Kanaad can be seen conducting a scientific experiment, and maharishi Varahamihir is shown conducting astronomy classes.

The 'commercial area' of the village has shops in which items of daily use are bartered. A cowherd milks his cows and barters fresh milk, a blacksmith is hard at work while his wife looks from a room inside.

The museum calls itself an open air exhibition centre. 'This is an attempt to portray how the ancient Indian rural economy functioned, it was completely self-sufficient, each individual had a productive role to play with appropriate returns and there was no discrimination,' Adrushya Swami said.

He said unlike Madame Tussauds, there are no 'internationally known super-icons' who serve as models but ordinary folk who lived and worked in ancient Indian villages.

Also, unlike Madame Tussauds where wax is the main material, all the 1,000-plus images at Siddheshwar Museum have been made of rocks and bricks, stuffed with wire gauze.