After nearly 15 years, residents of Bengaluru will get to have the timeless handmade creations of Koppal district, the place once famous for its dolls.
The makers of the heritage dolls — relegated to a quiet scene now — will wield their artistry to be part of the Navaratri scene in the State this year. The families from Kinnala village in Koppal district took to other professions owing to lukewarm demand for their dolls — Kinnala Gombe — over the last few decades.
This year, the handicraft cooperative movement, has managed to rope in some families for supply of these dolls during Navaratri. Grameena Angadi in Jayanagar — the handicrafts sector with several cooperatives under them — met 15 families in Koppal a few months ago and convinced them to supply these dolls that speak of a 500-year heritage.
“When we approached the dolls-makers they hardly agreed to get their hands on the craft once again as they were not sure of a market. They wanted us to ensure they had a continuous market as they had to once again start from scratch and invest,” B. Gangadhara, a village handicrafts cooperative manager with Grameena Angadi said.
With Mr. Gangadhara promising them that the handicrafts cooperative would give them a continuous market, a new beginning was all set to be made.
“This is a new turnaround in this trade as Koppal’s Kinnala Gombe would be made available to the people of the State. These dolls are made of soft drumstick wood. We also expect to convince more people to take over in the next two to three years,” Mr. Gangadhara said.
Theatre personality Prasanna — who is the man behind Ragi Kana, a weekly village get-together of cooperatives, and who encourages handmade village products, said, “It is our next step to bring them over to take up more doll-making while we give them a platform to sell their products. So it is a question of time to have them take to their original profession again,” he said.
Grameena Angadi will have about 500 dolls on display and nearly 30% of them will be Kinnala Gombes .
“The best of Keelu Kudure, or village scenes or fruits beautifully carved of wood will be available,” he said. It will also have Kolkata’s terracotta collection, Channapatna wooden toys, Kondapalli toys of Vijayawada, and Dashavatara sets will also be available. “Nothing is spared of GST, and that is why the dolls this time are 6% costlier,” said Mr. Gangadhara.
An array of dolls on display here
Talk of Karnataka dolls, the Dhaatu Puppet Theatre at Banashankari II Stage in the city has them all displayed.
“We have had dolls collected from three generations in the family, but this time we are exhibiting the rarest sets of Gowri dolls of Karnataka which has a recorded history of 500 years,” said Anupama Hoskere, who steers Dhaatu.
“We also have nine traditional thematic steps that will have dolls from Kashmir, Kashi, Dwaraka, Maharahtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, made of terracota, wood, bronze, brass, stone, and beads.”
Meanwhile, Dhaatu, which has puppet shows at its Bengaluru centre, has been approached by the Tourism Department to take part in the puppet-making live station during Dasara in Mysuru.