Navaratri “Bombe habba” has traditionally been an opportunity for the dolls to tell their stories. The stories of Krishna and his playful antics, Rama and his fight against evil, Lakshmi, Durga, Saraswathi and our many other loved and respected gods. Of course, not far behind are the stories of the mortals, the shopkeepers, the farmers, the children in the park. It is an occasion where people visit each other’s houses to view these stories and also exchange their own personal stories. The festival was an opportunity to bring out the creativity as the community mingled together.
This tradition is still alive and flourishing today with many people taking an active interest in the tradition. In fact, many are going the extra mile to create a theme and atmosphere for the Dasara dolls.
One such Navaratri dolls display is done by Ms. Meera Venkatesan, a storyteller and a resident of 4th Block, Koramangala. The theme of the display is travels to divine destinations, where a twist of modernity is given to the mythological stories. Each destination has a modern travel option in Ms. Meara’s stories. The destinations depicted are Ksheera sagara- where the churning of the ocean of milk brought out Amrutha, Krishna’s idyllic life in Brindavan, Kailasa where Lord Shiva and his family rejoice and the eternal space which are occupied by the navagrahas. In this depiction, one can travel to the ocean of milk in a luxury cruise ship, Brindavan in a monorail, Kailasa in a helicopter and the navagraha’s space in a rocket.
This theme is in addition to the traditional step wise dolls display and a depiction of the perfect Pongal challenge in MasterChef.
The entire setup was created out of common materials like chart paper, newspapers, paint, clay, cotton and so on. It involved a lot of creative work by the entire family, but as a result, now their dolls have come alive with a story to tell. The dolls have created an excitement which will live till they are put back to sleep on Vijayadashami, only to come alive again next year.
The story of the Dasara Dolls
