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| Shankar’s International Doll Museum |
It is located inside the Children's Book Trust building and occupies a few square feet of the first floor. It is accessed through a separate entrance, a winding staircase, leading up to a foyer.
K. Shankara Pillai (1902–1989), a pioneer in children's literature, a cartoonist and Padma Visbushan awardee, set up the Children's Book Trust in 1957. The then Hungarian diplomat, gave Shankar a doll to be given away as a prize for the 'Shankar’s International Children’s Competition'. Shankar loved the doll so much that he kept it for himself, with the permission of the Ambassador. From then on, he started collecting costume dolls from various countries. The museum’s collection of costume dolls were inspired by this gift.
When he had collected over 500 dolls, Shankar started exhibiting it in various places in India. Due to frequent packing and unpacking, damages were caused to the dolls. Once, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter, Indira Gandhi attended one of the exhibitions by Shankar, where he told them about his problem of the damaged dolls. This was when Indira Gandhi looked at the exhibits and came up with the idea of a permanent museum for the dolls. Inspired by this, Shankar allotted a portion of the Children’s Book Trust Building for the museum. The former President of India, Dr.S. Radhakrishnan inaugurated the museum and named the building, the 'Nehru House'.
The principal collection consists of gifts from Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many subsequent Prime Ministers, including Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Also several embassies and diplomatic missions in Delhi gifted dolls to the museum. Visiting dignitaries like Madame Tito, Queen Frederika of Greece, the Queen of Thailand, the sister of Shah of Iran, the wives of Presidents of Mexico and Indonesia and many others gifted dolls representing their respective nations.
There is a collection of 6500 dolls from almost 85 different countries. The dolls are even dressed up in the traditional costumes of the country or the area to which they belong. The museum is divided into two sections. The two sections have over 160 glass cases, 1,000 ft long (300 m), mounted on the walls.
In one section are exhibited dolls from European countries, the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The other section is dedicated to dolls from the countries of Asia, Middle East, Africa, etc. Shankar's International Dolls of Museum Delhi also comprises of a workshop and a Doll Designing Centre. The museum also runs a "clinic" for "sick" dolls, where rare deteriorating dolls are restored. Dolls Museum of Delhi facilitates cultural exchanges. Since, the dolls are displayed in their traditional attire, with conventional costumes, jewelry, etc, they tend to represent the true culture of their country/ area.
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. 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. The craftsmen create the dolls with utmost perfection to create a symphony of the physical features, costumes and ornaments. The special attractions of this museum 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, Kandy Pehara from Sri Lanka, and Kabuki and Samurai dolls from Japan.
Address: 4, Nehru House, Bahadur Shah Zafar Road,
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Vikram Nagar,
New Delhi, Delhi, India.
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