A depiction of Dr Rajkumar in Kannada movie ‘Bedara Kanappa’, designed by Sheela, mother of Prithvi Prabhu.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengalureans are looking for offbeat themes for the upcoming ‘Gombe Habba’ (doll festival) this Dasara season. The displays feature miniatures and dolls depicting scenes from Dr Rajkumar’s films, Indian aircraft models, and more.
Rajkumar craze
At Prithvi Prabhu and his mother’s Sheela’s home in Thyagarajanagar, scenes from Dr Rajkumar’s films are displayed in the living room. Ten iconic scenes from movies like ‘Bedara Kanappa’, ‘Mayura’, ‘Kaviratna Kalidasa’, ‘Mantralaya Mahatme’, ‘Kasturi Nivasa’, ‘Chalisuva Modagalu’, and ‘Bhakta Prahlada’ can be seen here.
After depicting Kannada actresses in iconic songs last year, the duo got requests to create Dr Rajkumar dolls. “We worked on the collection in the last 15 days. My mother, Sheela, stitched the outfits and made the accessories,” he says. Air-dry clay was used to modify and create features and facial expressions on the Ken dolls, which were used to depict the characters.
Their display is open to public viewing from October 4 to 13, 9.30 am to 1.30 pm, and 2 pm to 10 pm.
Call: 96118 16554
Mini marketplace
Banashankari resident Hema Rajaram has created a marketplace with 20 shops — from a bakery to a bookstore. “Replicas of stores that sell bags and carpets, flower and puja items, nursery, and even a Darshini are on display. These are made of cold porcelain, mould-it clay, m-seal, quilling strips, toothpicks, styrofoam, paper straws, and ice cream sticks. Each shop is named after a relative in the family,” the 68-year-old explains. The project took four months to put together.
From custard apples in the vegetable shop to around 300 books at the bookstore display, each minute detail took hours to days to create, she adds.
The display can be viewed between October 7 and 12, 4 and 6 pm daily.
Call: 90084 01952
108 temples
Padma Udaya Kumar, a resident of Rajajijnagar, has made replicas of ‘108 Divya Desams’ (108 temples of Vishnu across India and Nepal). “I cut out pictures of the gopurams, arch, and pillars and assembled each mini temple. These are made of paper and cardboard,”
she says.
The photos of the deities are from the book ‘Statue of Equality — A brief introduction to 108 Divya Desams’. “The display depicts 84 temples located in Tamil Nadu, 11 in Kerala, two in Andhra Pradesh, one in Gujarat, four in Uttar Pradesh, three in Uttarakhand, and one in Nepal,” she adds. After Navratri, the display will be shifted to another location, which will be open for public viewing.
For details, contact: padmabudayakumar@gmail.com
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Anuradha H R runs an art space titled ‘Untitled Arts’ atop her parents’ home in J P Nagar, where around 5,000 dolls are displayed. “There are replicas of fighter aircraft Tejas and Dhruv. A handmade replica of the Ram Mandir can also be seen,” she says. The collection also includes tribal dolls from Africa, and other dolls from Japan, the UK, and Germany.
Miniatures of businessmen selling merchandise, a Dasara procession made of Channapatna dolls, replicas of musicians Purandara Dasa and Tyagaraja and poet Mirabai, copper vessels, and ‘pattada gombe’ (a pair of dolls made from wood) are other displays.
One can visit the display between October 3 and 12, 6 pm to 9 pm.
Contact: Message on WhatsApp to 94839 85437
A resident of Srinivasapura, Vimla Rao, has been displaying dolls for 50 years. She mostly works on replicas of news and events that happened that year. “This year, I worked on a replica of my granddaughter’s wedding (in the US), which I couldn’t attend.
For sports lovers, there is a replica of this year’s IPL trophy,” says the 85-year-old. She has around 300 dolls on display that include ‘ashtalakshmi’ (eight avatars of Lakshmi), and a replica of the Maharaja’s Mysore Dasara procession.
To visit, call: 91643 20727