A snoring Kumbakarna greets me as I enter All India Handlooms and Handicrafts, a stone’s throw from the Mylapore tank. “The children love this one,” Gopalakrishnan, the manager, tells me. “Not only does it offer a breath of fresh air to the entire set-up, but parents also use it as an innovative means to narrate stories to their children.”
Mylapore’s go-to store for handicrafts and golu dolls has created quite a niche for itself in what is otherwise an extremely competitive market, with sellers popping up in every corner of the city, especially during the Navarathri season. “We started out as a modest handicrafts shop 15 years ago,” Gopalakrishan smiles, “Golu dolls are perhaps the most sacred of handicrafts, and so we sold them along with the other handcrafted goods. We made sure our dolls were of the best quality, and there was no looking back after that.”
They prioritise quality over quantity, getting their dolls from as few as five or six artistes from locations in Kanchipuram, Puducherry and other districts around Chennai. “You might find these dolls everywhere,” he says, picking up a Mathura Krishna doll, “but you won’t find this kind of rich texture and colour anywhere else. A lot of effort goes into designing these dolls to mirror their counterparts in temples, and that is perhaps why customers love us so much.”
Works of wonder
With dolls made out of materials as diverse as terracotta and paper mache, they cater to every kind of customer, with prices varying from ₹150 to 20 grand. Their speciality is the handcrafted Kumbakonam doll. Moulded by expert artisans, with intricate design and painting, these dolls are sought after throughout the city, and are only found here. Their popularity is not just limited to Mylapore, with customers from all over the city flocking to the shop, after visiting the Kapaleshwar temple.
It might be only June, but they’re already prepared for the golu season, with truckloads of dolls coming in every week. “In this city, a lot might happen, many things might change, but the golus always go up on time,” he tells me as he welcomes another prospective customer.
