Gombe Habba is more than just a decorative exercise. Living rooms are being transformed into miniature museums of dolls and figurines, meticulously arranged in tiers, all part of a tradition rooted in creativity and community.
For Priya Rajaram, who left behind a corporate career to pursue art, the doll festival is an extension of personal memories. “I grew up watching my mother do gombe every year. It was also a time when all the books in the house would end up on the golu stand and you found yourself reading them more than setting things up,” she reminisces.
Rajaram uses her mother’s clay dolls and repurposed bottles to create quirky figurines. “Every doll has a story to tell. We love panipuri and travelling, and so our quirky collection includes a panipuri seller and the Mario Miranda figurines inspired by our Goa trip,” she explains.
Other highlights are tiny Lord Ganeshas with musical instruments, hyper-realistic Krishnanagar dolls and Chettiyar dolls. “The Maa Durga with baby Ganesha is made using fired clay technique – it’s just two hollows brought together using a particular gurjan oil to make the dolls lightweight,” she further shares.
At Untitled Arts in JP Nagar, Anuradha HR turns her family’s Mysuru-rooted tradition into an exhibition. With more than 4,000 dolls collected over decades, she curates themes each year. “We do an installation symbolising one of the major events that has occurred in India. This year, we chose Operation Sindoor to honour our armed forces,” she highlights. The figurines are placed alongside 100-year-old Marapachi dolls and Ravana effigies. On Vijayadashami, the public can visit and burn Ravana effigies, symbolising elimination of the evil.
For some, the festival is a canvas of artistic imagination. Animator Krupa Sunil has been creating thematic gombe displays for 16 years. This year, the focus being the festivals in India, with handmade sets of Ashtalakshmi and Navadurgas and the concept of Mysuru procession. “I’ve used plastic dolls with blinking eyes that children play with,” she explains, adding, “The saree, jewellery and the decor have been made from the scratch.” Rajaram agrees on the sustainability factor, stating, “I want to show that dolls need not always be bought. They can be handmade, recycled and carry stories of their own.”
Not all themes are rooted in the past. Lalitha Prasad, who has been keeping gombe for 15 years and has over a thousand dolls, decided to highlight women’s cricket in her display with a miniature stadium. She, along with her daughter, wanted their stand to reflect the changing face of sports and society. “Women now get good jobs through cricket. It is important we show that in our gombe too,” she stresses.
The centrepiece of many homes continues to be the Marapachi dolls, wooden figures often handed down across generations. Believed to have originated in Tamil Nadu and adopted into Karnataka’s culture, these dolls are typically dressed in silk. “Mine are over 100 years old which I inherited from my mother,” exclaims 48-year-old Anuradha, reconnecting to her roots.
At the scale of a small museum, Anupama Hoskere’s display has over 10,000 dolls. A veteran puppeteer, she weaves together mythology, history and contemporary imagination.
This year, her themes include Kashmir tourism, circus life for children unfamiliar with it and a live Kolata dance experience where visitors can participate. “We thought of giving our space a twist that shows the other side of the union territory,” she says.