Article in Star of Mysore

THEY ARE HERE TO DECK UP YOUR HOMES THIS DASARA YET AGAIN! 

‘Bombe Mane’ was inaugurated by Music University VC Dr. Sarvamangala Shankar at Pratima Gallery of Ramsons Kala Pratishtana on Nazarbad Main Road today at 6.30 pm. The expo will be open to public between 10 am and 7.30 pm everyday till Oct. 26. Entry is free. Special display section was inaugurated by Ganabharathi Hon. Secretary Vidu. Kripa Phadke.

The tradition of displaying dolls during the nine-day grand festivity is so embedded in the minds of those celebrating the festival in city that putting on show the ‘Dasara Gombe’ means a carnival in itself to many. And as always, the age old tradition that emerged to be a part of the Dasara festivities hundreds of years ago is being celebrated a big way in city, this season too, by the famous Ramsons Kala Pratishtana which has made its exclusive Dasara dolls expo — Bombe Mane, a tradition of Mysore.

But this time it’s all special unlike its previous versions. The expo has entered the 10th year of its commencement, thus promising to be richer and beautiful than all its previous editions. Overwhelmed about it, Raghu, designer at Ramsons Kala Pratishtana gushes, “It has been ten years since this beautiful show commenced at our gallery and we are pleased. We have come a long way and now, Bombe Mane is more of a Mysore tradition than just a simple Dasara dolls expo. It makes us happy that we have received a great response towards it ever since we first started it.”

And the hosts are leaving no stone unturned to make the show vibrant. This season, 10 special types of dolls have been exclusively designed and created to be displayed and sold to mark Bombe Mane’s 10th year celebrations. Explains Raghu, “this time, we have 10 new types of dolls made out of different kinds of materials, exclusively to commemorate our 10th year celebrations. All these are associated either with Mysore or the Dasara festival and only limited editions of them are available. For the first time there are exclusive, limited edition collectors pieces, representative of the quaint rituals of Mysore Dasara festivities, that have been commissioned and exquisitely hand-crafted by master artisans for the discerning few. This special collection is a reflection of the city’s cultural, social and religious heritage.

What’s more, this edition of Bombe Mane will also feature ‘Portable Shrines’ traditions. Many portable shrines are representatives of enduring strands of faith that have origins in folk mythology. Durgamurgi shrines of Karnataka, Kavads of Rajasthan, Pallakki and Jogathi traditions of Karnataka, Kalamkari tapestries of Andhra Pradesh are few representations that are featured for display at the venue this year.

And having been offering so much in the name of dolls show, the expo has succeeded in earning for itself, a few very valuable and dedicated connoisseurs, says the proud designer. “We have developed such great rapport with some of them that we eagerly wait to meet and chit chat with them while we also call a few of them to say certain specific types of dolls are available for sale, in case they would have asked for some custom made toys the previous edition. This makes Bombe Mane all the more special for us since customers are the soul of this expo.”

“And it feels great to say that the interest among people towards the tradition has been increasing and not declining with time. People visit us and purchase more toys and dolls, also asking us to showcase and sell some special forms of toys at times.”

The vibrant tradition which commenced with just the display of ‘Pattada Gombe’ at homes ages ago, has turned special with time, with people showing special interest in collecting and displaying a variety of colourful dolls, creatively each year, which has continued to keep the glory of the festival glowing as ever. — Ambika Nagaraj