Some unique dolls during my visit to judge Gombehabba

In my previous post I have already shared about judging the Gombehabba competition . I visited 10 houses to judge the competition. In each house , the arrangement of dolls was amazing. In some houses the themes were very attractive, and in some the creativity was dominating and in some houses I could see wonderful collection of dolls, which were bought from different parts of the world. Sharing about some of the unique dolls I saw.
Let me start with the Buddha doll meditating in a garden:

Buddha in a garden

In another house, a plastic doll was decorated as Kittoora Rani Chennamma:

A doll made as Kittur Rani Chennamma

Here is a model of Mysuru Palace. Here you can see the creativity of the lady who arranged this. Most of the dolls are handmade:

Model of Mysuru city

This is the most beautiful doll I saw this year. A lady dancing. You can see the charm on her face and the dancing posture looks awesome. It looks real.

Dancing lady doll

Here you can see the route between Bangalore and Mysuru. The important places on the route were depicted using dolls:

Route from Bengaluru to Mysuru

The below one is doll of sleeping Shiva and Parvati is near his head. This is the replica of idol at  Kondeshwara temple Suruta palli, near Tirupati.( You can read more about this temple here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palli_Kondeswarar_Temple,_Surutapalli)

The below one is about the current issue between Karnataka and Tamilnadu. You guessed it right, dolls depicting Kaveri issue. The supreme court judges are relpaced by Ganesha here, and also   CMs of both the states in the court :). I laughed a lot looking at this doll arrangement :)

Another one is a beautiful Lakshmi doll. This doll is from Pune and its Gowri(Parvati) doll. The lady's creativity has changed this doll to look like Goddess Lakshmi. Isn't it adorable?

 In many houses this custom is celebrated from past 100 years. So I could see some very old dolls. The below one is a doll , which more than 100 years old. You can see the difference in the color:

And this is collection of utensil sets. Most of us had these kind of sets during our childhood. Nowadays these are replaced by plastic ones:

Visiting all these houses to view and judge the arrangement was a wonderful experience.This tradition makes us kids. All of us enjoyed like kids, in the world of dolls.I was feeling, for those dolls we must have looked like giants :-)

Many sarees are designed, have worked on some hand embroidered projects. Soon share those with you.

 Until then, 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Judging Gombehabba

Gombe habba is a cute tradition which is celebrated in some parts of South India. I have already written about this tradition in my previous posts. This year there was no sign , that any would invite me. I was little disappointed. But a surprise was waiting for me. A Kannada News daily Vijaya Karnataka conducts competition about gombe habba. I was invited to judge the competition. every year I used to visit one or two houses to see Gombe habba. Because of Vijaya Karnataka , I visited 10 houses to see gombe habba
Here are some glimpses of the Gombe habba , we visited , published in news paper:

The day we visited 10 houses. In each house the arrangements of dolls was wonderful. I could see everywhere dolls, depicting different themes. The themes included stories from mythology to current issues like Kaveri water dispute between Karnataka and TamilNadu, recent surgical attack etc. I have captured photos of dolls, which I found very interesting. I will share about those in coming post.

Until then, 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Gombe Habba Part 2- The Gombe habba I visited- continued

Already I have written two posts about Gombe habba. In last post I have written about the Gombe habba I visited this year. This is the continuation of the last post as I could not share all the images in the last post.
I had shared only about the the dolls arranged surrounding the central arrangements of dolls. Here is the centrally arranged dolls in steps:

 The closer view,you can see many dolls of different Gods and Goddesses, in different sizes.

Both the sides dolls arranged very artistically :

The below doll of Shri Chamundeshwari is very beautiful. This is nearly 35 years old and still has that charm.

Even I liked this idol of Sharada, isn't the smile on the face mesmerising?

There were many more dolls , I could capture photos of some . Here are those:
Parvati worshipping, Lord Shiva:

Cute Krishna dancing on the Kalinga:

Dolls depicting marriage ceremony of Shri Venkareshwara:

And the Rangoli in front of the dolls was also very artistic.

The complete arrangement was done very meticulously. Everywhere I could recognize the interest and  passion.
Oh! Forgot, the below is the one which attracted me. The traditional bell, with my favorite Krishna on it :-)

In the next post will share about the street of dolls I visited,

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Gombe Habba Part 2- The Gombe habba I visited

Sorry , I'm  late in writing this post. I really feel this should have been shared with you during Dasara. As I was busy (as usual same excuse :-)) , I could not.
I have already shared about some unique dolls . In this post sharing about the Gombe Habba I visited this year. Knowing that I'm crazy about this festival,one of my friends , Divya took me to visit  Gombe habba , at her relative's house. I should thank her for this.
The hospitality I received at the house was very nice. The host took us to a big hall , where many dolls were arranged very artistically.
When I entered the hall, I could see my favorite Krishna Idol, decorated with plants around it. I felt Krishna is waiting in Brindavan for his Radha.

 

Next was Gouri and Ganesha.

 

Both the sides you can see procession carrying God in Chariots.Here is the closer view:

 

 

Here is the set of cute dolls which are depicting Hindu marriage ceremony:

 Don't you think, the couple looks made for each other?

Here is the beautiful view of Kailasa Parvata , with Lord Shiva and Parvati.Isn't that giving divine feeling?

 These are all the decoration made surrounding. The arrangement of dolls made in the centre had many beautiful and cute dolls. About those, I will share in the next post,

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana 

 

Gombe Habba Part 1- Unique dolls displayed in an exhibition

Gombe Habba, is the festival celebrated during Navaratri,especially in Bangalore and Mysore region. I have already written about Gombe habba in my previous posts.

Dolls taking you to era of Ramayana

 Walking down the street of dolls

Oh! I got an invitation for Gombe Habba

I'm always enthusiastic to write about the Gombe habba( festival of dolls) . This year I have a lot to write about dolls. In this first post sharing images of unique dolls . These pictures was shared by my friend, with her permission sharing with you.

The below are the replica of Mysore Palace, with Dasara procession in front of the palace.

 

This is wood replica  of Jayachamarajendra Circle in Mysore.

Laxmi Narasimha 

 Idol of Goddess  . You can see cute little elephants with Ambari.

 Chamundeshwari on Pallakki.

 This is very cute one. Replica of the famous throne , made of Papermache, with king sitting on it.

Aren't these unique? 

Still more to share with you about Gombe habba,

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana 

Devi idol decoration during Navaratri

During Navaratri , in almost all Devi temples, the idols are decorated and worshiped. Last week I had been to Tiruvannamalai. In the premises of Ramanshrama, there is  a Devi temple "Matrubhootheshwara". This is a shrine of Shri Ramana's mother. There is also a Shree Chakra. When I visited this temple, I could see idol of Devi is decorated as Shri Krishna.

 

Behind you can see a cow, mantap is decorated with Gold, Blue and Maroon. 

Here is the closer view:

 

May the blessings of Shri Devi

shine on you and all your prayers be granted   on this Dasara

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Dolls taking you to era of Ramayana

Already I've posted about the Dasara dolls when I visited a shop,  in  previous post . I entered another shop. At the entrance itself, there were many beautiful dolls. Here you can view those:

 

When I entered the shop, I felt that I was in the era of Ramayana. I'm not writing anything, you just experience the same. These dolls take you to the era of Ramayana:

1. Ramajanma- Birth of Rama(Can you see those cute cradles?:-))

 

2. Taataki Vadha- Rama and Laxmana killing demon Taataki 

 

3. Rama and Laxmana fighting with the demons Mareecha and Subahu

 

4. Seeta Swayamvara

 

Closer view of Seeta Swayamvara

 

5. Rama going for Vanavasa

 

6. Shhorphanakha and Laxmana

 

7. Seetapaharana- Ravana kidnapping Seeta

 

8. Rama meeting Shabari

9. Vaali vadha- Rama killing Vaali

 

10. Raavana and Angada

 

11.  Seeta in Ashokavana

 

12. Kumbhakarna.

 

13. Seeta Agnipravesha

 

14. Shree Rama Pattabhisheka (Crowning ceremony)

Hello...already in era of Ramayana?  Could meet many of the characters of Ramayana? Even I felt the same, when I was in the doll shop. 

Dasara is also celebrated in Devi temples, by decorating Devi in different forms. Last weekend I had been to Tiruvannamalai, where I visited a Devi temple. Idol of Devi was decorated as Shri Krishana. I will share about that in the next post. 

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana