Sujatha’s ‘multicultural’ Dassera allures
We often see pictures of rows of caprisoned elephants standing majestically in front of the grand façade of the Mysore palace lit up with a myriad lights during the ten days of the Dassera festival.
Dassera festivities were first started by the Vijayanagar Kings (of the modern state of Karnataka) in the fiftenth century. After the fall of Vijayanagar Kingdom, the Wodeyars of Mysore continued the Dassera festival by Raja Wodeyar I in the year 1610 at Srirangapatna, Mysore.
The tradition is popularly known as Mysore Dasara, which attracts thousands of tourists from India and all over the world to witness the fabulously colourful events surrounding the festival. Locally, in Karnataka, the event is also called Navarathri Bombe Habba in the Kannada language.
Auckland Kiwi Indian Sujatha Dattatreya has been bringing to life a slice of that tradition in her home in her adopted country every year for the past nine years. The warm confines of her lovely family home in a quiet street in Mount Roskill exude the traditional decorations and ceremonies of the Mysore Dassera – albeit on a tiny scale.
“I have been celebrating Navaratri for the past nine years in New Zealand,” says Sujatha, who has been celebrating the festival since she was a child growing up in Bangalore. “Every year, I change the theme of the decorations blending both Indian and Kiwi symbols and traditions. So I call it ‘Multicultural Dassera’.”
This year’s central theme – around the traditional dolls, which are decorated and displayed every year on a stand in the form of steps – is one of Auckland’s popular tourist attractions, Butterfly Creek.
But there are other themes as well. “The other sub themes are ‘We are one’ made up of collections I acquired from other countries which I visited last year and ‘Tinsel Town’, which is a collection of Dancing dolls.” Last year’s themes were the model of an Indian village displayed side by side of a rural Kiwi setting, depicting both cultures.
How does she decide on several different themes each year? “Collection of Dolls and other decorative items is my passion,” she says. “Whenever, I see attractive miniatures, I buy them. Then I start building up my imagination and start collecting more things for the theme.”
Setting up the display is no small task. “This time it took 3 days to arrange the Dolls. Normally, I take 3-4 days leave from work to arrange them,” says the working mother of two. “My husband and children do chip in with ideas and suggestions as do close friends.”
Thinking up a theme, collecting items and arranging them based on the theme is only one aspect of the celebrations. The ten day festival follows a hactic regimen. “Every day, we perfrom Pooja and prepare different sweets. For specific days, I prepare specific snack / dish which goes with the tradition,” says Sujatha.
About a hundred visitors throng the home during the ten days of the festival and the numbers have been growing, driven by the interest in her meticulous, themed decorations.
A desire to share the beautiful traditions of her home country is what drives Sujatha. “I would like to share our rich Indian culture and also to inculcate the values in the younger generation. The dolls and the themed displays blends spiritual concepts along with social and cultural life. It also is an outlet to one’s creativity and talent,” she says.
Sujatha works with the Auckland District Health Board and has previously volunteered as secretary of the New Zealand Kannada Koota for five years.
The festival of Navaratri or Dassera is celebrated throughout India and Nepal. Different states in India celebrate differently, typifying the unity in diversity that is India.
We often see pictures of rows of caprisoned elephants standing majestically in front of the grand façade of the Mysore palace lit up with a myriad lights during the ten days of the Dassera festival.
Dassera festivities were first started by the Vijayanagar Kings (of the modern state of...
We often see pictures of rows of caprisoned elephants standing majestically in front of the grand façade of the Mysore palace lit up with a myriad lights during the ten days of the Dassera festival.
Dassera festivities were first started by the Vijayanagar Kings (of the modern state of Karnataka) in the fiftenth century. After the fall of Vijayanagar Kingdom, the Wodeyars of Mysore continued the Dassera festival by Raja Wodeyar I in the year 1610 at Srirangapatna, Mysore.
The tradition is popularly known as Mysore Dasara, which attracts thousands of tourists from India and all over the world to witness the fabulously colourful events surrounding the festival. Locally, in Karnataka, the event is also called Navarathri Bombe Habba in the Kannada language.
Auckland Kiwi Indian Sujatha Dattatreya has been bringing to life a slice of that tradition in her home in her adopted country every year for the past nine years. The warm confines of her lovely family home in a quiet street in Mount Roskill exude the traditional decorations and ceremonies of the Mysore Dassera – albeit on a tiny scale.
“I have been celebrating Navaratri for the past nine years in New Zealand,” says Sujatha, who has been celebrating the festival since she was a child growing up in Bangalore. “Every year, I change the theme of the decorations blending both Indian and Kiwi symbols and traditions. So I call it ‘Multicultural Dassera’.”
This year’s central theme – around the traditional dolls, which are decorated and displayed every year on a stand in the form of steps – is one of Auckland’s popular tourist attractions, Butterfly Creek.
But there are other themes as well. “The other sub themes are ‘We are one’ made up of collections I acquired from other countries which I visited last year and ‘Tinsel Town’, which is a collection of Dancing dolls.” Last year’s themes were the model of an Indian village displayed side by side of a rural Kiwi setting, depicting both cultures.
How does she decide on several different themes each year? “Collection of Dolls and other decorative items is my passion,” she says. “Whenever, I see attractive miniatures, I buy them. Then I start building up my imagination and start collecting more things for the theme.”
Setting up the display is no small task. “This time it took 3 days to arrange the Dolls. Normally, I take 3-4 days leave from work to arrange them,” says the working mother of two. “My husband and children do chip in with ideas and suggestions as do close friends.”
Thinking up a theme, collecting items and arranging them based on the theme is only one aspect of the celebrations. The ten day festival follows a hactic regimen. “Every day, we perfrom Pooja and prepare different sweets. For specific days, I prepare specific snack / dish which goes with the tradition,” says Sujatha.
About a hundred visitors throng the home during the ten days of the festival and the numbers have been growing, driven by the interest in her meticulous, themed decorations.
A desire to share the beautiful traditions of her home country is what drives Sujatha. “I would like to share our rich Indian culture and also to inculcate the values in the younger generation. The dolls and the themed displays blends spiritual concepts along with social and cultural life. It also is an outlet to one’s creativity and talent,” she says.
Sujatha works with the Auckland District Health Board and has previously volunteered as secretary of the New Zealand Kannada Koota for five years.
The festival of Navaratri or Dassera is celebrated throughout India and Nepal. Different states in India celebrate differently, typifying the unity in diversity that is India.
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