Set up by the renowned political cartoonist, K. Shankar Pillai (1902–1989), Shankar’s International Dolls Museum has one of the largest collection of costume dolls anywhere in the world.
Housed in the building of the Children’s Book Trust on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi, the Museum has a floor area of 5184.5 sq. feet and occupies a portion of the first floor. A separate entrance, a stately winding staircase, leads up to a foyer. Inside, the Museum is divided into two halves. The two sections have over 160 glass cases, 1000 ft. long, mounted on walls. One section displays exhibits from European countries, the U.K., America, Australia, New Zealand, Commonwealth of Independent States etc. and the other from Asian countries, the Middle East, Africa and India. There are also special displays besides a representative collection from the over 150 kinds of authentic Indian costume dolls 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 a meticulous research into the physical attributes, dress and jewellery of individual characters. The dolls won the first prize—Golden Peacock Feather—at the Dolls Biennale held in Cracow, Poland, in 1980.
The Museum’s collection of costume dolls was inspired by a gift of a single doll which Shankar received from the Hungarian Ambassador in the early fifties, to be given away as a prize in the Shankar’s International Children’s Competition. Shankar fell in love with the doll. With the permission of the Ambassador, he kept the doll for himself. So fascinated was he with this Hungarian doll, Shankar began collecting costume dolls whenever he went abroad. Soon he had a collection of about 500 dolls which he decided to exhibit in various places in India along with the paintings done by children. The frequent packing and unpacking resulted in damage to the dolls much to Shankar’s consternation. At an exhibition held in Delhi which was visited by Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Shankar voiced his concern for the dolls. Promptly Mrs. Gandhi suggested: Why not a permanent museum for the dolls?
When Children’s Book Trust was putting up its building, a portion was planned as a museum for the dolls. The building was inaugurated in 1965 by the then President of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, who appropriately named it ‘Nehru House’ after the late Prime Minister.
The Museum started with a thousand dolls. Between 1965 and 1987 another five thousand were added—a vast majority coming as gifts. Today the volume has increased to 7000 exhibits from almost eighty five countries, truly giving it an international character.
The Museum is open from 10 am to 6 pm without any lunch break. The entry fees are `25 for adults and `10 for children plus service tax as applicable. Children in groups of 20 and more are admitted at concessional rates of `5 per child plus service tax as applicable. The ticket counter closes at 5.30 pm.
The Museum observes all Mondays as weekly holiday, besides 3 National holidays—Republic Day (January 26), Independence Day (August 15) and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) and festival holidays Diwali, Dussehra and Holi.