Image Source: Lively Streets

The dolls are usually displayed in the hall with decorated plank steps consisting from 3 steps to 9 steps. The mouth of the kumbham jar with fresh water is covered with a silk cloth, mango leaves are placed on top of it with coconut in the center. This is kept on the first step. In the first three steps, Gods idols are arranged, the next three steps are meant for saints like Sai Baba, great men like Vivekananda, devotees like Meera Bhai, national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, etc. The seventh step is for marriage set, temple set, dancing dolls, etc., the eighth step is for businessman and his wife, also called as Chettiar dolls which are placed along with commodities like rice, pulses, vegetables, etc., and the ninth step is for traditional wooden dolls dressed in colorful shining clothes, dolls of animals, birds and other forms.

The pooja is performed every evening on all nine days. Neighbours, friends and other relatives are invited to view the decorated Kolu. Married women exchange bags containing a small mirror, haldi, kum kum, comb, beetle leaves with supari and a fruit along with a small pack of gift. After the ceremonial aarti and prayers on the 10th night, the dolls are put to sleep and are packed carefully the next day and preserved it for the next year.

Images Source: Backpakker

The festival which started in India during British times as community puja, gradually gained its prominence after Independence and now it is celebrated by the Indian Diaspora settled around the world. Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh top the list of other countries which also include countries like The USA, Australia, Germany, Great Britain and Singapore. As a part of ritual, the idol of Durga is immersed in any nearby river/lake or ocean. It is now observed that the idol immersion has been allowed in Thames river also.

In Nepal, this event is called Dashain in which the King of Nepal participates. In Bangladesh the country has declared a National holiday on the last day of the function and the educational institutions remain closed during the entire period of the function (i.e) five days. Sydney and Melbourne are the cities in Australia where this is celebrated every year, In Berlin it is in practice for more than 40 years where it is also celebrated at other cities like Frankfurt, Koln, Munich and Stuttgart in Germany. Ealing Town Hall in London is a standard venue for this festival where it is celebrated with different cultural events performed by the artists flown from different parts of India.

The story behind the celebration goes like this.
Lord Brahma, pleased by the prayers by Mahisasura, a demon, wishes him a boon of invincibility. Thus, no one could challenge Mahisasura, who, powered by this boon goes on a rampage of the entire world. Finally, he challenges the ALMIGHTY. It is when the entire Divine community wakes up and realizes that the need for a superpower to eliminate the evil. Since, the Lord Brahma who offered the boon to the demon could not control the mayhem, they (all other Gods) led by Brahma went to Lord Siva and narrated the entire episode. A strong ray of light emerged due to the anger of all the Gods and that light reached an Ashram of a priest named Katyan. It is where from Goddess Durga emerged as a superpower with 10 arms carrying weapons and a lotus flower. Thus, she also gets the name Katyaayani. Riding on a Lion, She sets on to fight the Demon, Mahisasura, who though ignored her initially, went on to fight fiercely taking different forms like Buffalo, Lion, Elephant and also a human being. Irritated with such a long fight, Durga, drinks the divine wine and emits powerful light from her body making him blind and later severing his head. She therefore gets another name Mahisasuramardhini.. This story which is now shared among Children, strongly portrays her as a God of power. She therefore became a source of inspiration during freedom struggle in India.

Though this festival is celebrated silently in other parts of the world, back home it is an activity packed weeklong function. A committee comprising different people from the locality is formed which collects funds that are generously donated by the neighborhood These funds serve towards constructions of tents (pandals), Idol preparation , expenses towards artists, food, sweets, flowers, music and many other requirements pertaining to a public function. There are also corporate donations which at times lead to collection of millions.

It is important to address the idol making processes. It is considered holy right from the collection of raw materials (usually clay). On the day of Akshaya Tirtya, a group assembles at the Ganges/any river to collect the clay needed for the idols. This clay is transported to a holy place and then transformed into idols. The day the eyes are placed/painted is also a day of importance. It is called Chakku Dann, meaning donation of eyes which is done on Mahalaya, the first day of puja. The precondition for painting the eyes is that the particular artist must remain vegetarian for a day before the day of the event.

Though the real function is for six days, the actual drama starts about a month back with preparations for collections of money, making of idols, constructions of Pandals, printing of invitations and organizing many other events. The governments also participate by sanctioning the annual bonus to facilitate disposable money on hand.

The last day of the programme is the farewell to Goddess. The idol is taken on a long procession covering the entire locality and then immersed in a nearby river and the event on that particular day is celebrated as Vijaya Dasami all over the country.

To be more specific on the days the function, it is during the fortnight of the waning moon session falling in Septmenber/ October. This month in Bengali is called Aswin. The six days are Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami, Bijoya Dasami.

In other parts of the city, there is a kind of indirect competition in decorating the pandals as well as the streets with generous donations from traders and the societies/residents. There are societies which use this season to conduct some competitions among children and encourage them to display their abilities/talents. There are many cultural programmes also.

Well, having spent 10 full days, the devotees prepare their idols for the immersion. They carry the idols weighing in tons on motorised vehicles and take them on a procession in the colony before immersing either in the sea or in a lake whichever is nearby. The bands on the day are busiest with very advanced booking as the devotees like to dance to their tunes all the way to the immersion point. There are devotees who exhibit their love by dressing in traditional attire and entertaining all others.

It’s a custome that the idol should not be kept either in the house or in the pandal and must compulsorily be immersed. The number of Ganesh idols are in hundreds and the immersion starts sometime in the evening on 11th day and goes till mid-night. Here are a few pictures of such immersion. Ganpati Bappa Mourya!

It is a national festival that is celebrated all over India, mainly in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. Various colourful Ganesh idols in different sizes and poses are made of clay and plaster of Paris by a specially skilled artisans three months prior to the festival. The decorated Ganeshas are later brought to the specially designed temporary mandapas by the people of respective locality and place the idols in mandapas.

The streets are decorated with colourful lights and Ganesha is worshipped for 10 days by offering garlands, flowers, kumkum, coconut, modakas, etc., along with chanting mantras by the priest. Various competitions and cultural activities also take place in many localities for these 10 days. On the 11th day, the statues are taken through the streets in a procession where people sing and dance. They immerse the statues in the nearby lakes or river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his abode in Kailash while taking away with him the misfortunes of his devotees. This ritual is called as Ganesh Visarjan.

Janmashtami is a popular festival in North India. It is also celebrated in the southern part of India as Sri Krishna Jayanti or Gokulashtami. This festival is celebrated as the birth day of Lord Krishna who was born more than 5000 years ago in the 28th year of Dwapur Yug. Mathura is the birth place of Lord Krishna. It is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Janmashtami falls in the month of August-September every year. Infant Krishna’s idol is placed in a decorated cradle and worshiped late in the evening, particularly at the time of Panchanga as Krishna was born at midnight. Kolam, also known as Rangoli in Hindi is drawn specially for the occasion in the front yard of the house and footprints representing those of Krishna are also drawn with the rice flour from the front yard to the pooja room, representing infant Krishna entering the devotee’s home. The devotee observe fast on this day and break their fasts by feasting on milk sweets and savories after they were offered along with milk, curd, butter and fruits to Lord Krishna as it is said that Krishna likes the milk products, makhan, butter.

The carnival lasts for 10 days, but Onam is mainly celebrated on the first four days. The first day is called “Onnam Onam”, the second day is called “Thiru Onam”, the third day is called “Munnam Onam” and the fourth day is called “Naalam Onam” which meant for fun and frolic. A play called “Pulikali” is performed on the day of “Naalam Onam” and there are competitions among various groups from different districts of the state. This is merely a narration of hunting of tigers and hence there will be characters as hunters and tigers.

Artists in demand on that day who apply their skills on well built male bodies to look like real tigers, of course tails included. So these colorful performers dance to the loud beats of percussion instruments like ‘Udukku’ and ‘Thavil’. Thrissur district in Kerala has gained prominence over the years for this event. The local authorities take special care to ensure the festival is celebrated in a smooth manner where hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators throng at a place called Swaraj Round at Thrissur. This folk art “Pulikali” deriving from ‘Puli’ meaning ‘Tiger/Leopard’ and ‘Kali’ meaning ‘Play’, so it is ‘a play of the tigers’. This play also has another name called “Kaduvakali”.

Image Source: Kalyana

“Dandiya Raas” is the traditional folk dance form of Gujarat. During Navratri as Durga’s honour, men and women dance in a graceful and rhythmic manner in a circle with sticks called ‘Dandiya’ in their hands. It is also performed during Holi festival depicting the ‘Raas Lila’ of Krishna and Radha.

The women’s traditional attire for Dandiya Raas is colourful embroidered choli, ghagra and bandahni dupattas with attractive mirror work and heavy jewellery, while men wear special turbans and kedias. Here I present some colorful traditional attires for women.

Image Credits: Ragalahari

Image Source: Your Designer Wear

Snake boat race is the largest team sport in the world and lead by colourful water parades. Thousands of people gather at lakes to cheer the huge black crafts as they slice through the waters to a spectacular finish. One of the oldest and most popular boat races in Kerala is Champakulam Moolam Boat Race which is connected to Sree Krishna Temple at Ambalappuzha. This race is conducted on Champakulam Lake on the moolam day of Midhunam, the Malayalam month.

Some of the boat races held during the months of August–September are
Rajiv Gandhi Boat Race, ATDC Boat Race, Neerettupuram Boat Race, Kumarakom Arpookara Vanitha Jalamela, Karuvatta Boat Race, Thazhathangadi Boat Race, Kottayam Mahatma Boat Race and Kumaranasan Smaraka Jalotsavam. Indira Gandhi Boat Race is held on the Ernakulam Lake during the Cochin Carnival in December last week.