D. Ram Singh opened Handicrafts Sales Emporium opposite Mysore Zoo in 1970. His family had come from Bassi, Rajasthan to Mysore in the 18th century — recruited by Tipu Sultan — and had spent generations serving the city and its royalty. By the time D. Ram Singh opened his store, Mysore was home in every sense. He had already been manufacturing handicrafts since 1966 through a small unit called Brilliant Industries. The store was the next step — a place where the finest traditional crafts of India could find a home and an audience.

Over the decades, Handicrafts Sales Emporium grew into the largest handicrafts store in Mysuru. Rosewood carvings, sandalwood figurines, traditional paintings, brass work, stone sculptures, board games — spread across three floors, it was less a shop and more a destination. Locals called it Gombe Angadi — The Doll Store. Visitors described it the way you might describe a museum. In 1995, on the store's silver jubilee, D. Ram Singh established an art foundation to carry his mission further — to research, preserve, and revive the traditional art and craft forms of Karnataka and India. He passed that mission to his family, and it continues to this day.

His son R. Gyaneshwar Singh — RG, as everyone in Mysore's arts circles calls him — grew up surrounded by Mysore-style paintings hanging in the family home. He was collecting them as a teenager, buying his first piece from a photo-frame shop in the city with his pocket money. That curiosity became a life's work. Over three decades, RG has documented Mysore-style paintings, commissioned works from living masters, established Ramsingh's Museum of Mysore Paintings in his father's memory, and co-authored books on traditional Indian board games and Thanjavur paintings published internationally.

Working alongside him since 2004 is H.S. Dharmendra — Raghu — art historian, curator, and designer. Together they have spent over 20 years travelling across India, photographing game boards carved into ancient temple floors, documenting dying craft traditions, and bringing them back to life in new forms. In 2005 they launched Bombe Mane — a permanent exhibition of handmade dolls sourced from craft clusters across 12 states of India. In 2007 came Kreedaa Kaushalya — a biennial exhibition of traditional Indian board games, now in its 11th edition, drawing visitors and researchers from across the country. The games that were once carved into the stone floors of temples from Chidambaram to Chamundi Hill are handwoven today in Kalamkari, Lambani embroidery, and Solapur Dhurrie — and sold at Ramsons.