Dassara / Navarathri Celebrations

Dasara or Navarathri festival is a 10 day (nine night) festival celebrating the Victory of Good over Evil culminating in Vijayadashami. On Vijayadashami Hindus celebrate Ram's killing of Ravana as well as the Goddess Durga's killing of Mahishasura. In South India, there is a custom of exhibiting toys and dolls during Dasara - a custom known as "Bombe habba" in Karnataka, "Bommala Koluvu" in Andhra Pradesh and "Golu" in Tamil Nadu. Since the goddess Durga needed tremendous power, all other gods and goddesses transferred their power to her and they all stood still as statues. To respect the self-sacrifice of these deities during the festival days, small dolls in the shape of particular gods and goddesses are displayed.

 This Dasara, Golden Bead children were welcomed to the Naveen home to see the Gollu display. Here the children saw a display of dolls made of clay and wood arranged on a series of steps. Some of the dolls were over a century old and many were arranged to depict various aspects of history and daily village life. The children narrated and were told mythological stories pertaining to Dasara. They also enjoyed some 'Sundal', a special dish made of boiled chick pease and some small gifts by their hosts.

 A big thanks to Preeta for this generous and warm invitation to a traditional Dasara Gollu!