Mysuru Dasara comes alive in Mangaluru

A slice of some of the traditions followed in the old Mysuru region during Dasara came alive in the City with the doll exhibition at Sri Sharavu Mahaganapathy temple hall on Tuesday.

The Mysuru Dasara doll exhibition, organised by ‘Nammavaru – Mangaluruvasi Hale Mysuru Vipra Koota’, will continue till October 22.

The highlight of the year’s exhibition is a model of the Mysore Palace – which is 15 feet long and five feet high – is illuminated and includes dolls highlighting the Jamboo Savari with elephants, camels, horses, soldiers and the audience.

Nammavaru convenor M S Gururaj has said that the society consists of people of the Brahmin community from the districts of the Old Mysuru region – Mysuru, Bengaluru, Kolar, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Mandya, Chitradurga, Madikeri, Shivamogga, Ballari, Chamarajanagar – who have migrated to Dakshina Kannada in search of livelihood. “The doll exhibition is an attempt at giving the local residents a feel of the traditions followed in the Mysuru region during Dasara. It also showcases the culture, lifestyle and traditions that prevailed in the Old Mysore province. The display of dolls in households during Dasara is being followed for more than 500 years,” explained the convenor.

The exhibition has dolls from mythology and also depicting festivals, palanquins and other events that throw light on the local traditions, apart from the ‘Pattada Bombe,’ which a centre piece on the exhibition.

Innovations
“It is not just a display of dolls, but follows a creative principle of placing the dolls in order. New themes are also being explored in displaying the dolls,” explained Gururaj, and added that the tradition came into existence to replicate the events organised in the royal household of Mysore during Dasara. “More than 1,000 dolls have been collected and will be displayed in nine steps that represent Navaratri,” he said.

Dashavatara, Ashtalakshmi, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Kalingamardhana, Pattada Raja Rani, Vishwaroopa, Srinivasa Kalyanotsava, Tirupathi Brahmotsava, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Kali, different forms of Ganapathy, Garuda, Anjaneya, Ananthashayana, Satyanarayana pooja, Chamundi Hills and palanquins, are being displayed. The exhibition also has dolls depicting various traditional professions, marriage, thread ceremony, village artisans, scenes from a farmer’s life – including working in the field – shandy and rural fair.
The exhibition is open for public from 4 pm to 9 pm. A variety of cultural programmes are also held daily for Dasara.