The Hindu : Karnataka News : When Mysore transforms into a ‘city of dolls’

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Friday, Oct 19, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

When Mysore transforms into a ‘city of dolls’

Shankar Bennur

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

PRETTY: At the ‘Gombe Habba’ in Mysore.

MYSORE: Mysore transforms into a “city of dolls” when it celebrates Dasara or Navratri, the biggest festival of the State, for nine days. Most households in Mysore, especially the older parts, have carried on the tradition of displaying dolls as part of the festivities. For children on holiday in their grandparents’ houses here, the festival brings joy as their favourite dolls are brought out from the shelf and decorated beautifully before being put on display.

The family of G. Nagaraj, an employee of AT and S in Nanjangud and residing at J.P. Nagar in Mysore, keenly awaits Navratri every year. For, the family members add new dolls to the existing collection during every Dasara.

This time, Nagaraj and his family have put on display Ramar Sethu, which made national headlines recently, with attractive dolls of Lord Rama and other characters from the Ramayana.

Since years, Gombe Habba has been the most-awaited occasion for the family which has a collection of a variety of dolls. The collection has gone up in the last six years. There are about 450 different types of dolls at Nagaraj’s house. “I have inherited the tradition from my grandparents and parents. For the next season (Dasara 2008), I am collecting dolls required for the Jamboo Savari,” says Mr. Nagaraj.

“There is a good response and we get encouragement from the public,” he said and added that over 800 people visited his house to have glimpse of the dolls last year.

“We want to preserve our tradition and heritage and pass them onto posterity. This tradition was on the decline but has since seen a revival and people are evincing keen interest in it,” Mr. Nagaraj said.

Importantly, Nagaraj’s family concentrates on mud and wooden dolls unlike those made of plastic and other material. Mysore was known for clay dolls and the city has a place for potters or clay artists — Kumbaragere. “We place orders for dolls every year to encourage them to continue the tradition of doll making,” Mr. Nagaraj says.

Notably, the tradition is being kept alive by those in their twilight years. They are taking interest in decorating the doll display area with colourful lights and other decorative items, though the scale of the celebrations may have declined in the last one decade.

In the days of yore, women and children of the royal family kept dolls at the Gombe Thotti at the Mysore Palace. They inherited the tradition from the Vijayanagar period.

There are a number of dolls displayed at Gombe Thotti but the marble structures of European origin on display draw the visitor’s attention. The royal family had collected the dolls from across the country and the world. A wooden model of the old palace, which existed in the fort before 1897, can be seen at the southern end of Gombe Thotti.

The cynosure of all eyes, the golden howdah or the Ambari, is kept in the southernmost part of Gombe Thotti. Its core is made of wood but is fully covered with gold sheets with intricate designs. The howdah weighs 700 kg, including 80 kg of gold.

Craftsmen of great repute designed the howdah which is mounted on the caparisoned elephant, Balarama, during the Dasara procession on Vijayadasami.

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