Bombe Mane open to public from September 16

MYSORE: Since 2005, Ramsons Kala Pratishtana has been organising a dolls’ exhibition called ‘Bombe Mane’ during the Dasara festivities. This year Bharat Vikas Parishat National Secretary P R Anand Rao will be inaugurating the event on September 15 at 6.30 pm. District-in-charge Minister S A Ramadas will be the chief guest, while MCC member Vanita Prasanna will be the guest of honour. The exhibition will be open to public from September 16 to October 6 between 10 am and 7 pm at Pratima Gallery in front of the zoo. In an attempt to showcase Tulu culture to Mysoreans, this year, the foundation is displaying ‘Navadurga’ in Tulu folk tradition. Based on the history of Sritattvanidhi, these Navadurgas have been made and a beautiful pillared sanctum has been created to house these dolls. The idea of worshiping divinity as feminine is mentioned in the Vedas. According to Devi Mahatmya, the nine manifestations of Devi Durga known as Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandra Ghanta (Chanda Khanda), Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayini, Kalaratri, Maha Gauri and Siddhidatri are collectively called Navadurgas. Each of them is workshipped on different nights of  Navaratri. Dolls from across ten states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (Tanjavur, Cuddalore, Madurai, Puddukkotai, Kanchipuram), Andhra Pradesh (Nirmal, Kondapalli, Etikoppaka), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Jodhpur), Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (Aligarh, Varanasi, Sarnath), Paschim Banga (Bankura, Krishnanagar, Kolkata), Maharashtra and Kerala will be on display this year.