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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.
K.
Shankar
Pillai
(1902–1989),
noted
cartoonist,
set
up
Children's
Book
Trust,
a
pioneering
work
in
the
field
of
children's
literature
in
India,
in
1957.
Later,
a
gift
of
a
doll
from
a
Hungarian
diplomat
gave
Shankar
the
idea
of
collecting
dolls
from
countries
he
visited.
He
often
held
exhibitions
for
poor
children,
and
at
one
exhibition
in
Delhi,
among
the
hundreds
of
visitors
were
the
then
Prime
Minister
Jawaharlal
Nehru
accompanied
by
his
daughter
Indira
Gandhi.
Indira
was
inspired
and
together
with
Shankar
set
up
an
international
museum
for
dolls,
eventually
materializing
on
30
November
1965.
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
Dolls
Museum
is
one
of
the
most
renowned
museums
in
New
Delhi
which
has
a
huge
collections
of
dolls
from
across
the
globe.
The
renowned
political
cartoonist,
K.
Shankar
Pillai
(1902–1989)
founded
this
museum
in
1965
with
thousand
dolls.
The
museum
covers
an
area
of
5,184.5
square
feet
(481.66
m2).
The
former
President
of
India,
Dr.
S.
Radhakrishnan
inaugurated
the
Dolls
Museum
and
at
the
inauguration
time
the
number
of
dolls
was
only
500.
In
between
1965
and
in
1987,
the
number
of
dolls
has
risen
to
5,000,
a
vast
majority
coming
as
gifts.
Shankar
Pillai
was
honoured
with
the
Padma
Vibhushan,
India's
second
highest
civilian
award
by
Government
of
India
in
1976.
Today
the
volume
has
increased
to
6,500
exhibits
from
almost
85
countries,
adding
to
its
international
character.
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.
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,
Latin
America,
Africa
and
India.
The
collections
of
dolls
are
classified
into
two
parts.
One
part
consists
of
the
dolls
collected
from
western
countries
such
as
UK,
USA,
Australia,
New
Zealand,
Commonwealth
of
Independent
States
and
the
other
section
consists
of
dolls
collected
from
other
Asian,
Latin
American
and
African
countries
including
India.
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