Bringing a slice of rural life to the city

An exhibit portraying the Kambala race.

An exhibit depicting a folk music ensemble at the Rangoli Centre.

An exhibit portraying the Kambala race.

The Rangoli Centre near Bengaluru offers glimpses of rural life, folk arts, cuisine, costume, dwellings and the traditional occupations of people across Karnataka.

Houses and traditional occupations of various communities have been displayed in this model village. There is an extensive representation of various artisans and craftspeople engaged in their activities: An artisan of the Pinjar community engaged in cotton carding and making soft beds; a weaver working on his loom; a vault with a goldsmith crafting ornaments; a traditional healer giving an oil massage in home clinic; extraction of oil in a traditional way; a shepherd preparing kambali (blanket); a craftsperson making baskets and other bamboo-based products; masons breaking stones and shaping grinding stones.

Similarly, there are other craftspersons such as dhobi (agasaru or madivala); potter (kumbara), tamatagar (metal worker), bangle-maker and blacksmith. Replicas of traditional houses of Kodavas, Okkaligas, village headman (Gouda) and Shanbhog’s house also find a place in the four-acre theme park. There are humble abodes of Lambani, limestone-makers (Sunagars) and fisherfolk.

The excitement of the spectators (life-size sculptures) is palpable in a tableau of the Kambala, the annual buffalo race of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

A perfect wrestling set-up with the wrestlers, referees and the crowds in a village square captures the spirit of the traditional kushti (wrestling).

A tableau of a cattle fair where farmers buy and sell domestic animals is artistically displayed and captured with sculptures of brokers and farmers and the cattle of various breeds.

The farmers market (Raitha Santhe) matches a real santhe, including the cacophony of the marketplace in an audio recording.

A saali gudi (school) depicts a teacher teaching the students. The Yellamma Devi, popular in Saundatti, is flanked by a dancer with the rope-whip and the wife who plays the percussion.

The indigenous farming system is depicted in a series of sculptures that enact ploughing and threshing.

For those children who are not familiar with the traditional game of kunte bille (hopscotch), there is an arena to play the game with the rules displayed on a board.

The rural scenes here provide enough fodder for the mind to ruminate and spend a whole day.

Incidentally, Rachenahalli Lake with a sprawling park is adjacent to Rangoli Garden.

Rangoli Garden is a quintessential Karnataka representing almost all districts.

An ideal place for urban children to go back to their roots and learn how people lived, worked and co-existed.

This is a creation of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Energy and Development Institute, a constituent of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka.

It is located on the campus of the institute in Srirampura Cross, Rachenahalli, Jakkur, Bengaluru.