Flowers, dolls & festivity

For a multicultural country like ours, Navratri is different in each state, but what remains common is the religious fervour, spirit of festivity and of course, the powerful goddess Durga. With people from various parts of the country living here, the city of Hyderabad is a representation of multi-ethnicity. So, celebrations too have hues of various traditions.

“These nine days, we worship nine avatars of goddess Durga and in the evening all the family members get together and chant mantras,” says Vanitha Datla, former Chairperson, Confederation of Indian Industry. Adding more on the rituals, Dr Srinagi B. Rao says, “Though we celebrate nine different avatars of the goddess on each day, people generally dedicate the first three days to goddess Kali, then the next three days to goddess Laxmi and the rest to goddess Saraswati.”

Women celebrate Bathukamma during the nine days. Kuchipudi exponent Yamini Reddy explains, “Women of every household make flower stacks with local wild flowers and perform puja. At the end of the celebrations, the flower stack is set afloat on a lake. The celebration begin with the sourcing of wild flowers. Then the flowers are arranged in circular rows and in alternate colours.”

Bathukamma also brings together different kinds of women. “Dressed up in their best attire and ornaments, women gather around the installation and sing folk songs,” she adds. According to Harikrishna Mamidi, Director of Culture, Government of Telangana, it is the festival of thanksgiving  to the Mother Nature. He says the festival is celebrated for nine days in Telangana but in Andhra Pradesh it is only celebrated on Dasara.

“My mother has carried on the ritual of preparing golus from her elders and now, my son has inherited the tradition from me. In my family, we have a figurine which may be hundreds of years old,” says artist Sravanthi Juluri.

Creating intricate Golu or figurines, dolls or toys placed according to their size on a rack of odd-numbered shelves, almost creating a pyramid has also become a part of few household from the city. Adding further, she says, “During my childhood, I used to place my Barbie dolls on it and now, my son places his transformers along with the traditional golus.”