The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Mysore Palace right in Bangalore

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Wednesday, Oct 01, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Mysore Palace right in Bangalore

M.T. Shiva Kumar

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Keeping a tradition alive: A replica of the Mysore Palace displayed at Rajni Balaji’s residence.

Bangalore: You do not have to rush to Mysore to catch a glimpse of the palace this Dasara. A scaled down version of the grand palace is on display every year as part of the Dasara Gombe ensemble in a home close to the Bangalore Palace.

Rajni Balaji, a former employee of Parliament House in New Delhi, has set up a miniature structure of the Mysore Amba Vilas Palace from different kinds of materials such as wood, particle board and plastic. This little palace in her house (Near Gayatri Vihar) has been attracting a large number of people.

“We have a strong bond with the Dasara celebrations. I learnt to arrange and display miniatures and dolls from my mother Jayalakshmi. For the last 30 years, I have been arranging dolls during Dasara,” says Ms. Balaji. With assistance from her three children, it took her a month to put together the palace.

“Dasara symbolises the victory over the evil. Arrangement of dolls is a tradition that is still being carried on,” she says.

Apart from Mysore Palace, Rajni Balaji has also arranged a number of dolls, which reflect the themes and characters from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata and so on. The Brindavan Gardens and the Mysore Dasara procession are also represented in her Gombe ensemble.

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