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A rich tradition
Photo: K.R. Deepak
Fun and frolic Girls decorating dolls at a household
Bommala Koluvu is an ancient tradition observed during the Dasara and Sankranthi festivals. Children, especially girls, enjoy decking up the dolls and placing them on tiers. They keep on adding to their collection of dolls year after year. Some selec
t the dolls on topical themes like Indian cricket or the latest films.
The dolls that are rolled up in old clothes and neatly stacked in a number of wooden boxes loaded on the attic are first brought out, dusted and touched up by repainting. Then the arduous task of arranging ‘koluvu metlu’ (steps) starts.
Gone are the days when wooden boxes and steel trunks were used as koluvu metlu. With the modernisation bug having bitten this tradition phenomenon also, readymade collapsible steps which can be put aside after the festival is over are now available. Steel slotted angles, which can be assembled and dismantled at ease, have also come into vogue.
It is customary to arrange the dolls on the ‘Mahalaya Amavasya’ day so that the puja can start on the next day.
A ‘kalasam’ filled with rice and some coins, is first placed in the centre of the middle tier as per tradition. Then the other dolls starting with Lord Ganesh are installed.
Once the ‘koluvu’ is ready, for the next nine days, it acquires a deemed divinity status. All the rituals, normally performed in temples everyday, are performed to the dolls on all the nine days.
“The staging of Bommala Koluvu has been the tradition since long. Various idols of gods and goddesses and dolls depicting mythological characters are arranged to form a picturesque setting in each house and worshipped,” says a former professor of Sanskrit, Appalla Soweswara Sarma.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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