It is that time of the year when brightly painted Krishnas, Vinayakas and Devis take the centre stage, or rather the centre step. With Navarathiri round the corner, kolu dolls from various places have entered the city to adorn the houses of those celebrating the nine-day festival. Hundreds of vividly painted dolls deck up the exhibition organised by Poomupuhar in their sales show room here. The exhibition was recently inaugurated by Revathi Muthuswamy, Director, Srirangam Bharathanatyalaya, Tiruchi. The collection includes lovely miniature Ganapathy dolls and Vishnu figurines; Panchaloga statues and Rajeshwari Darbar set.
Unique sets like Ganapathy school set where Vinayaka is seen sitting under a tree tutoring a group of mice, Surya Urvalam set where the Sun God is seen riding in the skies with his seven horses rule the roost. Brightly painted Vaigunda Ganapathy and figurines of Ashtalakshmi, Srirangam portrayed at its best with the beautiful and imposing gopuram and Vishnu in his supine pose, Chakrathalvar and Sangeetha murthigal set also steal the attention .
Krishna Leela set, Suryanarayana set and Vaikunda set are also showcased. From the traditional Thanjavur dolls of the dancing women to the contemporary dolls of yesteryear leaders and Drum dance of the famous film ‘Chandralekha' the expo has all. The Tirupati Urchavar set costing Rs. 22,000 indeed adds colour to the exotica. Small dolls of leaders including those of Nehru, Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and Periyar are also displayed. “The dolls are made in Tiruchi, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Chennai and Calcutta. We hope to achieve a sales target of ten lakh rupees this year,” said K. Chidambaranathan, Manager, Poompuhar Sales show room, Tiruchi. He added that last year the sales had gone well past the target of eight lakh rupees. A special discount of 10 per cent will be given on all kolu dolls to all customers.
The expo is on at the Poompuhar show room here at West Bouleward Road, till October 17 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
