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Shankar's International Dolls Museum facts for kids

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Shankar's International Dolls Museum
ShankarsInternationalDollsMuseum.jpg
Established 30 November 1965
Location Nehru House,
4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi-110002
Collection size 6,500 Dolls

The International Dolls Museum is a large collection of dolls in Delhi, India. It was set up by K. Shankar Pillai, a political cartoonist. Housed in the Children's Book Trust building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, accessed through a separate entrance, a winding staircase, leading up to a foyer. The museum has a floor area of 5,184.5 sq ft (481.66 m2) and occupies a portion of the first floor.

The location

The museum is located in the Children's Book Trust building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi near Ram Charan Agrawal Chowk. It occupies a floor area of 5,184.5 square feet (481.66 m2) on the first floor. A separate entrance with a winding staircase leads up to a foyer.

Layout

Inside, the Museum is divided into two equal halves. The two sections have over 160 glass cases, 1,000 ft long (300 m), mounted on the walls. One section has exhibits from Europe, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Common Wealth of Independent States and the other from Asian countries, the Middle East, Africa and India.

The collection

The collections of dolls are classified into two parts. One part consists of the dolls collected from European countries such as UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Commonwealth of Independent States and the other section consists of dolls collected from other Asian countries, Middle East, Africa and India.

The main collections of Dolls Museum are of 150 types of Indian costume dolls created at the own workshop of the museum which is located inside the museum. The craftsmen create the dolls with utmost perfection to create a symphony of the physical features, costumes and ornaments. In the pageant are characters from India's unique classical dance, Kathakali, with its lavish costumes. Other dolls of special interest are Boys and Girls Festival dolls from Japan, replica Dolls of the Queen's collection (UK), Maypole Dance from Hungary, Kabuki and Samurai dolls from Japan, Flamenco dancers from Spain, Women's Orchestra from Thailand, and Kandy Pehara from Sri Lanka.

The dolls of Dolls Museum even was awarded first prize namely Golden Peacock Feather at the Dolls Biennale that was held in Cracow, Poland in 1980. The major attractions of this museum are Kabuki and Samurai dolls from Japan, Maypole dance replica dolls of Hungary, UK's Queen collections, Orchestra of women from Thailand, etc.

Besides, dolls representing various countries, there is also a special display of a representative collection of over 150 dolls in Indian costume dolls. There are dolls showing various Indian dances and cultures, regional costumes, pairs of bride and grooms of various states, a group of dolls showing how to wear a saree. These were made at the Dolls Workshop attached to the Museum. Indian dolls made at the workshop are exchanged for gifts received from abroad as well as sold to collectors and museums in India and abroad. Each doll is handcrafted after meticulous research into the physical attributes, dress and jewellery of individual characters. The museum also runs a "clinic" for "sick" dolls, where rare deteriorating dolls are restored.

Business hours

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. without any lunch break. The ticket counter closes at 5.30 p.m. Remains closed on Monday and other gazetted holidays.

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