Pattada Gombe Alankara

Posted on September 16th, 2010 by Shantha
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Pattada Gombe in Kannada means, the royal dolls and Alankara means decoration. Many households have a custom of arranging dolls during Dasara festival in Mysore.  This is also known as Kolu in Iyengar households.  Various dolls are arranged and the main dolls are the King and the Queen. The King and Queen dolls are made of Chandana / Rosewood. These dolls are gifted to the girl on her wedding day by her parents. You can also buy the dolls in shops in Karnataka. Every year, few days before Dasara, the Pattada Gombe / King and Queen dolls are decorated using different materials. Credit for decorating the dolls in the pictures below goes to my mom.

Pattada Raja Pattada Rani

Materials Required:
Pattada Gombe / King and Queen dolls
Colored Papers or Cloth
Gold and Silver papers or lace
Gum
Sequins
Beads
Cellophane tape
Bindi Stickers
Black Hair

Dasara Gombe

Method:
Take measurements of the dolls and cut the paper or cloth for the Sari, Blouse, Dhothi / Salwar, Kurta / Tunic, Shawl, Turban, Borders etc. as shown in the picture below.

Dasara Gombe

Braid the hair and make a wig for the Queen. Decorate hair with accessories.

Dasara Gombe

String the beads for necklaces and bangles. Use the bead string on the turban.

Pattada Gombe

Stick Bindi for ear rings and on the forehead.

Pattada Rani

Stick the borders on the Sari and Kurta and Dhothi. Assemble the costume and fix it on the dolls using Gum or Cellophane tape.

Dasara Pattada Gombe

The dolls are now ready to lead the arrangement.  Aren’t they a handsome couple!?



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Filed under: Dasara, Do It Yourself, Festivals

18 Responses to “Pattada Gombe Alankara”

  1. Priya, on September 17th, 2010 at 12:31 am Said:

    Cute looking dolls..

  2. Lalitha, on September 17th, 2010 at 12:52 am Said:

    Takes me back to old memories where my mome decorated the dolls, arrange them previous day of Dasara with lights, Kalasa, etc…
    Good old Dasara holidays at school, enjoyed playing, eating, going to palace in the evening, visiting exhibition,…

  3. Lavanya, on September 17th, 2010 at 6:24 pm Said:

    i agree with lalitha, we used to call them marapachi bommai…amma used to keep them first before keeping other dolls….and we used to wear different get ups of god and invite people :)

    Lavanya

    http://www.lavsblog.com

  4. vanamala, on September 17th, 2010 at 6:53 pm Said:

    super …

  5. Priya Adhoni, on September 18th, 2010 at 12:37 pm Said:

    Thank u Shantha for jogging up our memories,living in distant lands with all modern facilities,will not diminish the festive pleasures of Dasara and the Gombe alankara.
    very nostalagic .

  6. Shantha, on September 18th, 2010 at 4:18 pm Said:

    Thank you girls. Happy Dasara to you all.

  7. Anonymous, on September 27th, 2010 at 9:54 am Said:

    [...] [...]

  8. Monika, on September 30th, 2010 at 11:13 am Said:

    Dasara dolls are sold @ Nagalakshmi’s shop in gandhi bazar next to foodworld

    It is just an outstanding collection of clay dasara dolls, if you visit here once I think you will stunned by the art and culture filled in each doll.Even if you have never had a tradition of arranging dasara dolls, you will start arranging from now…..

    While speaking to her she told me that she gets dolls from chennai ,bombay,calcutta,kondapali etc list from where all they get goes on and on…….. If we have to go each place and buy dolls it would cost us our time and patience, so why trouble ourself just visit this outstanding doll shop.

    Most wonderful thing about this shop and the place is how she speaks to you very patiently explains you each mythological story related to doll.

    There were lot of dolls related mahabharatha,krsna leels, ramayan, if you remember in ur childhood there were few stories on crow and pot,lion and rabbit all these stories are there as a doll.
    I explained to my child stories showing these dolls.
    Guys let us all keep our culture, teach our childrean our culture by celebrating this awesome festival

  9. Monika, on September 30th, 2010 at 11:14 am Said:

    I just got her Nagalakshmi’s contact number from my purse 9945305207, thought it would be of good use

  10. deepika, on September 30th, 2010 at 11:55 am Said:

    Gandhi bazar next to food world. Contact number is 9945305207

  11. Shantha, on September 30th, 2010 at 1:31 pm Said:

    Thanks for the information Deepika and Monika. There are few shops selling Dasara dolls in Jayanagar 4th block market too.

  12. srinivas, on October 15th, 2010 at 10:10 am Said:

    it is greate . even we have kept some dolls we want yo give them to news channels cam toy please help us

  13. Godhalakshmi, on October 16th, 2010 at 8:24 am Said:

    A very Nice Article, Indeed.
    We will publish this on our site if you send this article to us. If you send a picture of your self we will put it up too giving full credit.

    We are NOT a commercial site.

    Thanks,
    Godha

  14. Shantha, on October 19th, 2010 at 8:38 pm Said:

    Hi Godhalakshmi,
    Sorry for the delay in replying. Thank you for your appreciation. My suggestion is that instead of publishing the same article again, you can give a link back to the article from your site.
    With best wishes,
    Shantha

  15. RAJALAKSHMY SUBRAMANYAM, on January 3rd, 2011 at 12:17 pm Said:

    Dear all, while searching t i found this site. is very interesting. I am residing in konanakunte.I used to do dressing up of dolls in good clothes and design a number of kundan rangolies. you can see pictures from my facebook . Interested can contact me over my mobile no. 9686810322
    thank you.
    rajalakshmy

  16. Shantha, on January 3rd, 2011 at 7:15 pm Said:

    Thank you Rajalakshmy. Your hobby is very interesting.
    Regards,
    Shantha

  17. Rashmi, on October 7th, 2011 at 12:48 am Said:

    Thanks for sharing such a wonderful art Shantha! Its very useful information for people who like to keep the Gombe which I am planning to do from next year as my lilttle son would be old enough to understand that he is shud not pull his toys or arrangement :-p…(hopefully he shud understand)

  18. Shantha, on October 7th, 2011 at 7:14 pm Said:

    You are welcome Rashmi. Hope you enjoy yourself doing this next year.
    Cheers!
    Shantha

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