INTRO

Happy Dasara everyone. Have been keeping gombegalu ( called in Karnataka) since childhood and continuing the same legacy with the patada bombe gifted by my parents after marriage. In karnataka, patada gombe holds utmost significance and can be kept alone without the dolls during navratri till lifetime. Patada bombe signifies love, affection, and peace.

This year, have included dolls from Ramayana covering Rama's marriage, his journey during his exile ( stories such as sethubandanam, shabari, Sanjeevini buti for lakshman), and highlighting the devotion of Hanuman to Lord Rama using dolls- Japa Hanuman, Ram and Hanuman hugging eachother, and Hanuman carrying Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulders. Rama's return to Ayodhya with RamaPatabhishekam dolls and our ayodhya temple. We have showcased Ravan darbar too.

Life history of krishna:Vasudev and Devaki praying to Lord Vishnu, Devaki in Jail, vasudev carrying him to Vrindavan. Dolls depicting Krishna's childhood playing with his friends using top, naughtiness by stealing the clothes during gopika's bath while also highlighting his bravery fighting the demon-Bakasur, Kalinga Mardan, Indra's anger (Govardhana Giri), and Kamsa's death. Doll depicting his bravery as a child when two devatas get relieved of their curse when baby krishna pulls a branch of a tree is also kept.

A doll showing Vishwaroopa darshan. Incarnation of vishnu showing the entire universe. A supreme commander of the universe.

Astalakshmi : Goddess of wealth, health, and prosperity is worshipped with utmost devotion during navratri.

Village: In the digi savvy world, our kids are not aware how we grew up in a village before moving for livelihood to cities. The name of the village is Nandanapura. Nandana means happiness or heaven. We all have realized what heaven is today being in city. The village covers two temples across the small river. The boatman waits to take the devotees from one temple to the other. There is santhe happening on the banks of the river. There is a kannada medium primary school and a person is selling sweets outside the school. Have showcased the daily lifestyle at village. At the highway, a lady is selling idlis and dosas.

Mysore dasara:

The world famous mysore dasara procession with the elephant carrying the king and the golden howrah with goddess durga is depicted along with people dressed as freedom fighters being part of the procession. Navdurga- the nine forms of durga is shown on the Chamundi hills along with Mahisasur. Here how she takes nine forms to actually kill the demon is the highlight for everyone.

Ganesh rebirth @ Kailas

Here we have tried to cover the story of ganesh after he was killed by shiva for denying his entry based on parvati's instruction and later got back to life wth the elephant trunk. All the 3 devas - Brahma, Vishnu and Mahaeshwara is shown along with mother Parvati's love for bal ganesh.

Moral stories:

Have kept dolls showcasing a few well known moral stories for the kids:
3 monkeys: Eyes closed, Ears closed and mouth closed. Moral- See good, Hear good and talk good.

Thirsty Crow: Pebble by crow to lift the water. Moral: Determination

Hare and the Lion: Lion jumps into the well thinking one more lion is there when animals in the forest were tired of him killing all animals for his food.

Hunter and the lion story: A small rat helps the lion escape from the hunter's net..Moral: You may need anyone's help. Dont judge anything bu its look or size. A small rat helped a mighty lion when the lion had made fun of rat.

Last but not the least, our guru Sri Shankaracharya is worshipped diring navratri by chanting his scripts such as kalyanavrishtistavam, devi sthuthi and so on. Goddes Lakshmi, Saraswati and durga is prayed for good knowledge. A group of Ganesha musicians are there to entertain during navratri. We do worship musical instruments in navratri. Dashavaratara set is also kept.

Thanks for giving me an opportunity to share my learnings with you all.