Dhaatu’s Dasara festival to showcase epic-themed dolls from Indian scriptures

Bengaluru: Thousands of dolls depicting themes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavad Gita will feature in the Dhaatu Dasara Navaratra Mahotsava, which includes a main display of Rishyashringa and Rama Jnana.

The show, which begins on September 22, will include story-telling and puppet shows on the Ramayana everyday, besides puppet shows on Bhakta Prahalada on October 1 and Vijayanagara Vaibhava on October 2 by the Dhaatu Puppet Theatre.

For Dhaatu's Anupama Hoskere, who has been putting up her annual Dasara doll exhibition for 29 years without a break, the 30th edition of the show this year had suddenly come under a cloud after she lost her father-in-law and mother within a space of months.

And when Anupama herself fractured her arm after a fall days before her mother's demise a few weeks ago, she had almost resigned herself to calling off this year's show.

"But I realised that the Dhaatu Dasara Navaratra Mahotsava is something beyond a personal activity," says Anupama, who speaks about something driving her to go headlong into the preparations despite fracturing her arm.

Children's corner 

"There will be a separate section for children this year, where they can arrange the dolls by themselves and experience the spirit of Dasara," says Anupama, whose work to revive and propagate puppetry and Indian culture has earned her honours like the Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

A theme on Kashmir is another attraction in this year's show.

Where and when 

The exhibition will be held at Mandala Cultural Centre on Kanakapura Road, next to the Silk Institute metro station from 10.30 am to 7 pm. It will be on till October 12.

A view of the dolls at the exhibition.