INTRO

Nimmellarigu Dasara habbada subhashayagalu!

Namaskara, I’m Varsha Sampath. The theme we’ve chosen for Bombe Display (Golu) in 2022 is titled “Traditions and Nostalgia”
A little but about myself. I’m originally from Mysore until I first came to the US for pursuing higher studies. I currently live with my family (husband and 10 year old daughter) in the suburb of Seattle, “The Evergreen State” of Washington .

My first memories of “Dasara Bombe” or “Golu” as a child, was of helping my mother with the decorations including arranging the Bombe collections which were passed on to her by the previous generation (mother, grandmother, in-laws etc.). I vividly remember helping my father to create scaled down model of the famous Mysore Zoo and Chamundi Hills, and then using sprouted ragi to mimic the green belt surrounding those famous landmarks in Mysore!

I always run through my childhood memory lane every Dasara season and reminisce all the activities we did during Dasara as a “family”.

After marriage, I have attempted to continue the same traditions. This is my 15th year of celebrating “Bombe Dasara”. However, this is my first time participating in the Golu Awards, for which I found “Traditions and Nostalgia” as an apt theme for the displaying the Bombes.

My sincere “Thanks” to Sapthavarna Creations for providing us this platform to showcase our passion, creativity and share my childhood memories of Dasara celebrations.

Let me walk through some of the details below.

Today’s display at home is mainly divided into 3 main sections. In the individual sections, I have attempted to incorporate the various traditions we were taught and the memories from childhood.

Section 1:
Festivals of India:

The display starts off showcasing Deepavali, one of the major festivals celebrated pan-India. In this section, I have displayed my collection of decorated lamps that signify Deepavali celebrations in traditional homes in India.

As we walk through the display, the next section showcases the various elephant Idols I have owned to signify Ganesha Chaturthi.

This is followed by our lovely “Gokula Nandana” display signifying Krishna Janmashtami. Here I have various Krishna idols, Krishna’s cradle, his favorite pots filled with butter and the traditional Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra.

Section 2:
In this section we have our traditional Bombe setup displayed in 5 steps.

The first step from the top displays our brass collection. We have Lord Sriranganatha in the center, flanked by dancing Ganesha dolls on the right and Lord Rama, Goddess Sita on the left.

The second row has the decorated Lord Srinivasa and Goddess Padmavati in the center and the traditional Kalasha which is kept on the first day of Dasara i.e Padya. I also have the wooden musicians on either of the sides.

The third row has the “Pattada Bombe” set. These are decorated wooden dolls which were presented to me by my parents at my wedding. Keeping up with the southern Indian traditions, parents in India present the “pattada Bombe” set to the newly married couple so they could continue with the tradition of the festival. Next to these are dolls depicting Narasimhavatara on the left and to the right are the traditional dolls from Tanjavur.

In the fourth row, displayed are the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu or the Dashavataras

As you may be aware, around this time (Oct 1-5) in many parts of my country, Indians are also celebrating Durga Puja. The fifth and the final row has Goddess Durga in the center and musicians, dancers on both the sides. Last but not the least , at the bottom I have placed a pair of beautifully decorated silver lamps.

I also have displayed a miniature collection of miscellaneous items made in silver including, Lord Krishna in his cradle, jaggery block style lamps, mini boxes & peacock, Gowri bagina set (bangles, turmeric root, coconut, bananas etc), a pair of cow & calf, Tulsi Planter (Tulasi katte).
Right next to it is our Sanctum Sanctorum

Section 3:

In this section I have setup a model of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (Mysore Zoo), Mysore Dasara Procession and the Dasara Jatre (or the famous Mysore Exhibition).

To represent Mysore Dasara Procession, here I’ve displayed beautifully decorated horses, elephants, and musicians, Police Music Band and the elephant carrying the Golden Howdah or Chinnada Ambari. Visiting the zoo, exhibition and witnessing the most popular Mysore Dasara Procession on the Vijayadashami day was our Dasara holiday ritual.

Thank you for taking time to view my video. Hope you all enjoy the virtual walk. Wishing you and your family a very happy and a successful Dasara.