Day 198-Festival Of Dolls At The Tribal House

 I received these wonderful clay bowls Rosanna made me more than a month ago (on 8/9/10-notice 8,9,10?) and it has taken me till 10/10/10 to show them off properly. Of course, it is a case of kismet that I had to wait this long. You must surely expect the mystical by now on this blog! 

  

Rosanna not only made the bowls, she also hand painted each and everyone of them in the primitive theme so that they could be used in this house. I roughed  them up a bit because they were perfect, but only a bit.  It also took me a while to decide where to display the bowls and after that, one shelf that I built for half of them  just would not behave (see lower shelf)- it refused to stay straight and kept drooping down! 

That was why some of the bowls were on the floor yesterday when SuZ came by last night. Now my sister  had insisted that my dad send her to my home straight from the airport because she just had to show everyone (mum, dad and me) what she bought me from Chennai.

I was really excited when SuZ took out the boxes. Although she had shown me on Skype these dolls last month (she was away for 3 weeks), I really wanted to see them up close and personal. I remembered oohing and ahhing already when they were on screen but last night, I fell in love 6 times over. 

I was worried that the dolls were not of scale but SuZ dispelled my fears when she took a look at the tribal house and plonked Mr. Punch, the potter in the room behind these bowls. Look, she exclaimed, he's right at home here. I wanted to protest but Mr Punch looked seriously pleased so I only mumbled  my grumble.  My darling sister then proceeded to place 2 other dolls in the house, stood back and looked just as pleased as Punch!

Nooooo, That's the bedroom! Mr. SS (spice seller) can't be there! Of course, my protest fell on deaf ears. I must say though, Mr. SS with the bedroom eyes also seems pretty comfy where he is. 

Handsome as he is, he sure owns a lousy tool. I must change that scale and maybe repack the food. They look like real food, don't they? To be honest, I can't really tell.

Speaking of food, when I took this picture, I had thought this man was a food vendor. Of course, I had to find out what kind of food so I googled and after 1 hour, I found out from here that this is actually a priest performing puja and that puja is a daily ritual involving devotion by the offering of food, drink and prayers to a deity. 

I also found to my horror that I am missing a piece here  (see the glue stain?) and that I have already thrown away the box. Of course, I went and rummaged through the bin filled with dead leaves, ants and mosquitoes. Badly bitten, I eventually found the box but no missing piece. Guess I will have to make this one  as well. 

These are the three vegetable sellers who make me feel like spewing poetry or break into a song every time I lay my eyes on them .   

Lalala, how do I love thee? 

Let me count the ways ..lalalalala

Firstly. there's the changing expressions

Can you see  how the  chubby  plea to buy ..

...quickly turn into grimaces for help with just a sideward glance?

Then there 's the giant fruits, so easy they will sell!

Love how the clothes are made from real cloth in perfect perfect scale

But most of all, I Love thy hair , 

be it on your heads, 

or in the chests

And most definitely under the armpits!  

Navaratri 2010

To my delight, I found out from some bloggers I visit regularly that Navaratri was on Friday (8/10) . On this occasion, some households display their doll collections  for 9 nights. I hope to take this opportunity to celebrate my own festival of dolls with this display made by SuZ inspired by Rosanna's bowls.  My dear, sweet sister will be celebrating her birthday right in the middle of the Navaratri festival on 13/10 with the people who love her to death, us. 

Thank you, Rosanna , thank you, Suz!

The Beauty of Krishnanagar Dolls

It took me an incredible 5 hours on the net before I found out that these wonderful dolls were the famous Krishnanagar dolls. You know me, I just had to know where they are from or I won't be able to sleep. So although this post started in the afternoon of 10/10/10, I finally only finished past midnight. Actually, it's almost 1.30am now. 

This is what I found out about from here:

The chief patron for  clay dolls was Maharaja Krishnachandra of Krishnagar. His initiative in the late 18th Century kick- started the making of realistically  stylized, clay dolls originating from the state. Krishnanagar clay dolls are a connoisseur’s delight. The themes for these dolls are borrowed from the various societies of India. The social life of the people belonging to different castes and races are depicted in a clear and precise manner. These dolls, a regular feature in various international exhibitions, have won wide acclaim in most parts of the world, especially Europe. 

Krishnanagar dolls are modeled from a special variety of clay found on the banks of the Ganges.It is incredibly soft, and can be moulded easily. The doll makers use tiny iron rods to provide the skeletal structure for the dolls, then work with delicate tools to craft the clay. When they are nearly done, the dolls are baked in a kiln, given a final coat of varnish, painted, and then costumed. Each doll is  one of a kind although the theme may be the same. 

Sadly, I read  from Wiki that these dolls are waning in popularity and that  the numbers of  master doll makers have dwindled so badly that in 2007, there were no more than 10 of them, mostly aged,  living in Ghumi, neighbourhood of Krishnanager and the center for production of clay dolls.

My sister bought these dolls at a craft bazaar in Chennai , India last month. I am still trying to find out which fair it was....