Bommala Koluvu: The Andhra Dasara Doll Display and What to Serve Guests

Bommala Koluvu is the doll display many Andhra homes set up for the nine nights of Dasara Navaratri. Tamil households know it as Golu and Kannada homes as Gombe Habba, and the idea is the same: a stepped platform filled with dolls, kept up for the whole festival.

The steps are traditionally odd in number, three, five, seven or nine, with gods and goddesses at the top and scenes from everyday life lower down. Dashavatara sets, wedding processions, village scenes and Andhra's own Kondapalli and Etikoppaka wooden toys are all common. Many families add one new doll every year, so the display grows with the household.

The evenings are for visitors. Women and children go from house to house to see each other's koluvu, sing, and receive thamboolam: betel leaves, turmeric, kumkum, a fruit and sometimes a small gift.

The food is simple and made fresh each day. Guggillu, boiled chickpeas or other pulses tempered with mustard, curry leaves and grated coconut, is the classic offering, often with a different pulse on different days. A sweet is placed before the goddess alongside it.

With visitors arriving every evening for nine days, it helps to keep a tin of sweets that hold well. Laddu, Mysorepak, Kaja and Ariselu all keep for days without refrigeration, so a small piece can go into every thamboolam without cooking something new each night.

After Vijayadashami the koluvu is taken down, and the dolls are wrapped carefully and put away until next year.