INTRO

Inspirations are ordained by the Almighty and we need to just unconditionally surrender to experience the sublime bliss of being chosen to execute the Divine Will!! Our visit to Puri served the inspiration and I got my idea of Gollu inspired by the story and traditions of the presiding deity, Lord Jagganath!! I decided to create a Lord Jagganath Rath Yatra as this year's Gollu theme.
I got small idols of the three deities of Jaganath, Subhadra and Balabadra.

When we started little did I know the effort required to create this theme. It started with making the Rath. I used the Amazon wrapper cardboard pieces with multiple permutations and combinations for over a month. Finer details like the design of the Rath, the dome, the top of the dome, parrots, the flag, the pillars, the wheels were created..
Next was to create the crowd for the Yatra. Interestingly I found a lady who sold puppets. I bought 100 colourful men and women puppets from her. Making them stand was a challenge. After trying various methods I used air dry clay and made the puppets stand..to pull the Rath.
Finally the small size idols, which we bought from Puri had to be made larger compared to the Rath. The size was increased using bottles. I dressed up the idols and decorated them with some home made and other jewellery.
Backdrop had to give the holistic look and capture the grandeur of the Rath Yatra..
The video of the theme is depicting the Rath Yatra, 3 dieties and Lord Krishna.
Throughout the decorations, sufficient care has been taken to ensure Sustainable Development Goals. Everything used is Biodegradable...This year I also thought of doing the NavDurga theme in my Mandir adorning my 9 inch Devi with the nine shades of her Divine Manifestation.
Started the first day with and she took the form of Shailaputri.
2nd day she was dressed in red as per the colour of the day and she took the form of Brahmacharini..and so on... On the 9th day she took the form of Siddhatri and was dressed on Pink.
On the last day ie on Dussehra, I thought of dressing her up as Tripurasundari. Tripura Sundari is the foremost of the Mahavidyas, the supreme divinity of Hinduism and also the primary goddess of Sri Vidya. The Tripura Upanishad places her as the ultimate Shakti (energy, power) of the universe. She is described as the supreme consciousness, ruling from above Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
I personally experienced utmost blissful in the constant contemplation of the Divine..