Dasera!
Dasera, Dussehra, Navaratri, they all mean the same- the celebration of good over evil. Dasera sees week long festivities with the 10th day celebrated as Vijaydasami where it is believed it was the day Goddess Durga won over demon Mahishas
ura. Thus its symbolic of the good winning over the evil. In the north it is celebrated to commemorate Rama's win over Ravana. 
Well, many stories but the spirit remains the same. Its a major festival in Bengal where Calcutta dawns a new look, full of colors and mandaps of Durga, festivities all over, sweets, people, dance and music! South sees bommala koluvus,kolams and mahishasura mardinis! Its been tradition to put up bommala koluvus at this time and call home guests to show off the koluvu! And Gujrat, sees Garbha! 
This year we put a koluvu in the apartment temple and I helped around! Usually they are arranged on steps, which could be 3,5 or 7 in number. The steps are neatly covered with decorative cloth and all the possible toys and show pieces at home are arranged on these steps. Guests are invited to come and admire the ensemble. The one at our apartment has turned out to be really pretty and colourful with just the right hues at the right places! Apart from the koluvu, apartment is planning Garbha on one of the nights which is celebrated in the North West India, where people dance the night away in a traditional dance form called the Garbha. Garbha nights are so important to them that girls plan the day weeks ahead, making sure their cholis and ghagras are color synchronized and while the men get their dandiya sticks ready! Infact it is said that a lotta men find their wives on Garbha nights! Each day of the week has a significance, one of the days is the day of the Saraswati puja, where Goddess Saraswati is worshipped and for me it is a day where I clean my veena, do the necessary markings with a paste of sandal, kumkum and turmeric, stick incense close by and beautify it with flowers.
Little girls getting dressed and learning to give the traditional tambulam, the boys practising dandiya, sweets, people, colors, new clothes,kolams, jewellery, gold, silver, toys, food and the indomitable spirit of the young and old alike all through the week makes dasera just magical and special! And with a complex like Seashells, where there is a little of Gujrat, Tamil, Andhra, Bihar, Assam and just every other state, I get to see a week of mixed cultures every dasera with a new toy for the koluvu and a new theme every year! Hail Dasera, Hail Seashells, Hail the Human Spirit! :)
ura. Thus its symbolic of the good winning over the evil. In the north it is celebrated to commemorate Rama's win over Ravana. Well, many stories but the spirit remains the same. Its a major festival in Bengal where Calcutta dawns a new look, full of colors and mandaps of Durga, festivities all over, sweets, people, dance and music! South sees bommala koluvus,kolams and mahishasura mardinis! Its been tradition to put up bommala koluvus at this time and call home guests to show off the koluvu! And Gujrat, sees Garbha! This year we put a koluvu in the apartment temple and I helped around! Usually they are arranged on steps, which could be 3,5 or 7 in number. The steps are neatly covered with decorative cloth and all the possible toys and show pieces at home are arranged on these steps. Guests are invited to come and admire the ensemble. The one at our apartment has turned out to be really pretty and colourful with just the right hues at the right places! Apart from the koluvu, apartment is planning Garbha on one of the nights which is celebrated in the North West India, where people dance the night away in a traditional dance form called the Garbha. Garbha nights are so important to them that girls plan the day weeks ahead, making sure their cholis and ghagras are color synchronized and while the men get their dandiya sticks ready! Infact it is said that a lotta men find their wives on Garbha nights! Each day of the week has a significance, one of the days is the day of the Saraswati puja, where Goddess Saraswati is worshipped and for me it is a day where I clean my veena, do the necessary markings with a paste of sandal, kumkum and turmeric, stick incense close by and beautify it with flowers.
Little girls getting dressed and learning to give the traditional tambulam, the boys practising dandiya, sweets, people, colors, new clothes,kolams, jewellery, gold, silver, toys, food and the indomitable spirit of the young and old alike all through the week makes dasera just magical and special! And with a complex like Seashells, where there is a little of Gujrat, Tamil, Andhra, Bihar, Assam and just every other state, I get to see a week of mixed cultures every dasera with a new toy for the koluvu and a new theme every year! Hail Dasera, Hail Seashells, Hail the Human Spirit! :)
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