Mangalore, Oct 6: For the seventh year in Mangalore,'Nammavaru', an association of Brahmin families hailing from old Mysore region, organised an expo of dolls depicting various traditions such as Dasara celebrations and festivities in Mysore, on the occasion of Navaratri festival.
The nine-day expo was inaugurated at Sharavu Mahaganapathi temple auditorium here on Sunday bymanaging trustee of the temple Raghavendra Shastry. This year, over 1,000 dolls have been showcased at the venue, with a special focus on the statue of Vivekananda memorial at Kanyakumari.
Speaking after inaugurating the expo, Raghavendra Shastry said that the doll expo had been organised by the association with the intention of retaining the tradition and allowing their children to grow with it. This special custom of depiction of ceremonial festivities through dolls is a way of showcasing things in a disciplined manner, he said, adding that we should retain our old customs and nurture them. “We should also learn from other traditions which are not native to this region,” he said.
Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (MCF) director Prabhakar Rao said that Navaratri was the special occasion of celebrating the victory of the good and punishing the evil. It signifies the triumph of good over the evil, he said.
There are several creative kinds of doll presentations nowadays, with depictions of traffic jams and situations of the present times such as corruption. Such presentations should also portray the on-goings of the society such as corruption, which will send a message to the society, he said.
Origin of the custom
The practice of arranging dolls depicting the Dasara festivities in Mysore have become an integral part of Dasara celebrations, which was a grand affair during the reign of Vijayanagara Empire. The practice of recreating the Dasara festivities in the homes of commoners began as they were unable to take part in all the ceremonies performed by the king and queen. Now, it is common practice in all houses in old Mysore during Dasara festival.
The association decided to organise a similar display of dolls in Mangalore to introduce and familiarise the traditions of Mangalore to the people of Dakshina Kannada. From 800 dolls on display last year, the number of dolls has gone up to 1000 this year.
The doll expo will be open to people from 4 p.m. onwards till October 14. Every evening, there will be cultural programmes from 7 p.m., said general secretary of the organisation M S Gururaj.
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