New Delhi’s international doll museum

New Delhi’s doll museum is always crowded. Adults and children alike are enchanted by the museum’s collection. The doll museum in New Delhi is not just a collection of toys, but a wonderful story of India and the world.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

New Delhi’s doll museum is always crowded. Adults and children alike are enchanted by the museum’s collection. The doll museum in New Delhi is not just a collection of toys, but a wonderful story of India and the world.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

The collection was founded in the 1960s, and now contains dolls from 73 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

Dolls from former Soviet countries have a large showcase all to themselves in Shankar's International Dolls Museum, as it is officially known.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

The museum’s founders collected items that show the national dress, history and everyday life of different countries.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

But the crown jewels of the museum are a unique collection of dolls representing various peoples and cultures of South Asia. This collection also depicts ancient Indian traditions. Photo: Dolls dancing a classical South Indian dance-drama called Kathakali.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

Dollmakers pay special attention to detail: each outfit must be elaborately designed and be similar to its real-life equivalent.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

Museum curator Shanta Srinivasan (pictured) says that the collection contains about 6,500 items. The museum was founded by renowned political cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai in 1965. He was a great lover of dolls, and his collection formed the starting point for the museum.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

The museum buys or trades for foreign dolls, but makes the majority of Indian-styled dolls itself, in an adjoining doll workshop. Photo: Dolls wearing wedding dresses from different regions of India made in the workshop.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

“Each doll has a different face, and we believe that each doll has a character of its own as well,” Srinivasan says with a smile.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

The dolls located under a statue of the Hindu dancing god Shiva Nataraja depict various styles of Indian dance.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

A doll dancing in the classical Bharatanatyam style.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

Dollmakers at Shankar's International Dolls Museum find inspiration for new dolls – like this musician playing the veena – in everyday life.

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© RIA Novosti . Evgeniy Pakhomov

The workshop, which was originally founded to repair broken dolls, now produces dolls for collectors. This Brahmin will be soon displayed with the other dolls in the museum.