INTRO

Every year, we have a grand display of Golu (Dolls) for Navratri. This is a tribute to my late grandmother, who was a role model to me & embodied abundant patience and creativity.

We had traditional 9 steps Golu and a display of Mysuru city showing its major landmarks and the famous Dasara procession.

The theme for this year was 'The House of Villages (Halli Mane)'. It was further divided into the following sub-categories:

1. The Village of Gokula - The childhood stories of Lord Krishna from birth to Kamsa vadha were shown.

2. Indian Village - We tried to recreate an Indian village scene, which included a river, temple, fair, farming, vatara ( housing complex), school, wedding, and baby shower.

3. Space Village - This was created mainly to pay tribute to the recent Chandrayaan. A fictitious story was built around this theme. The aliens are alarmed at seeing an ISRO rocket in space. They are preparing themselves for possible combat. Star Wars figurines were used to represent aliens.

4. Evergreen Village Square - This is a local meet-up area in our neighborhood. Every week people gather together to buy local produce and support local artists. We created a miniature replica of Village Square with a farmer's market and a concert held by a local musician.

5. Japanese village - We tried to show Mount Fuji, Cherry Blossoms, Terrace farming, and a Buddhist Temple with an associated waterfalls and a Koi pond.

6. Italian Alps Village - We showcased hunting and sheep herding as being the main occupation of this part of the world. We also put houses on top of snow clad mountains, with people skiing and playing with snow balls down below.

7. Bahamas - Mainly showed tropical scenery with palm trees & a sunny beach. We also showed a traditional Bahamian woman.

8. Mexican Village - In this subtheme, we displayed Mexican women, a Mariachi band, farming, and animal herding.

A lot of creations and structures were handmade at home. I also painted Warli art displaying the Village scene and Kolam design and added Kites to create the perfect backdrop to portray our theme this year.

Hope you enjoy watching it. Happy Navratri 😊.