COIMBATORE: With Navartiri less than a month away, colourful Kolu dolls have started arriving to adorn the art and craft showrooms in the city.
At Poompuhar, a set of 24 papier mache dolls vividly tell the magical tale of Ramayana with artisans crafting them beautifully. Rama's war with Ravana to rescue Sita have been captured weapon by weapon. From the army of 'vanaras' constructing bridge over the sea by throwing huge rocks with the name of Rama scripted on it to Rama shooting arrows into the sea and making it dry, the epic is splendidly retold through the dolls.
Wedding appears to be another dominant theme of the doll show at Poompuhar. The famous wooden Marapachi pairs that are traditionally gifted to newly-wed couples are a huge attraction. The intricate carvings in the dolls capture the dazzling attire of women and men during weddings. The dolls presenting the wedding scene of the divine couple Rama and Sita, are the cynosure.
There are Dasavatharam set, Vinayagar set, Darbar set, Asgtalakshmi set, Sangeetha Mummoorthigal set, Thirupathi set, cricket set, Kuberan set, Vaigundam set at the Poompuhar. The dolls have been collected from various parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kolkata, Rajasthan, New Delhi, Pune, Pondicherry and Madhya Pradesh. There are also sets of market dolls, green and colourful vegetables and fruits, sets of animals and individual Gods and Goddesses.
The cost of dolls starts from Rs 15 and goes up to a maximum Rs 10, 000. "We are expecting a sale of '40 lakh this year from this exhibition. We successfully achieved last year's target of '25 lakh. A discount of 10 per cent is there on all the Kolu dolls," said R. Narendra Bose, manager of Poompuhar. The exhibition cum sale is on till October 24 from 10 am to 8 pm including Sundays.
