16th edition of Bombe Mane, an exhibition of exquisite dolls organised by RKP, was inaugurated by city’s well-known Bharatanatyam artiste couple Dr. Anjana Bhushan and Badari Divya Bhushan on Oct 3rd 2020.
The pictures and video’s are all of Bombemane, Mysore.
Gombe Habba (Festival of Dolls which signifies nine incarnations of Goddess Durga) losing its patronage
Gombe Habba’(Festival of Dolls) – a tradition unique to the area and started several centuries ago by the early rulers of Wadiyar dynasty, reflects the skills of the women folk and brings the mirth associated with the famous Dasara festivities, to every home in the city of palaces.
Almost all the houses here makes arrangements of dolls that attract large people particularly children.
The dolls festival dates back to the period of Raja Wadiyar in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th centuries, the royal family introduced dolls. To celebrate the festival of dolls, the royal family earmarked place in the Mysore palace, and referred it as ‘Gombe Totti’ (Dolls pavilion).
This dolls festival was later introduced into the public domain by officials in the royal service, and the practice of arranging dolls at home during the Navarathri started. The tradition of gifting ‘Pattada Bombe’ to daughters during their marriage also contributed to the popularity of ‘Gombe Habba’.
The arrangement of dolls revolved around the ‘Pattada Bombe’ made out of Chandana wood (sandalwood), procured from Thirupati, in rural, the practice of preparing ‘bombe bagina’ or a snack on all the nine days was a popular affair during the Dasara and children would invite friends to their home to have a glimpse of the dolls arrangements.
Dolls are arranged in a hierarchy of nine steps, and each day new dolls are added in each step. The hierarchy symbolizes the nine incarnations of goddess durga in the form of shailapurti, brahamacharini, chandraghatna, kooshimanda, skandamata, katyayani, kalarati, maha gowri and siddiratri, who attained these forms to ward off the evils in the form of asuras, mahishasura, madukaitaka, shumba rishamaba and others.
Now the arrangement is used to send messages of public importance, ramansons kala paratishana, a city based art gallery, has organizing a doll festival, bombe mane 2013 in which exhibition of dolls from across the country, dolls of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh , Gujarat, Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh , Bihar and west Bengal have been lovingly made by craftsman and painstakingly collected over a period of time. Even dolls collected over generations have been taken out from wooden chests or almirhas and neatly arranged on wooden steps. The exhibition has now opened for public until end of the dasara festivities.
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