KOCHI: It is a familiar sight for all of us during Navaratri- a fine display of idols of countless deities. Though the origin of this ritual, bommakolu, is in Tamil Nadu, it has become a part of the celebrations in Kerala too.
“For the last two decades we have been displaying a collection of the idols,” says Uma Raman who has a number of clay models of deities like Lord Ganesha, Goddesses Saraswathi and Mahalakshmi and Lord Vishnu. “There is a belief that every year a new set of idols should be added to the collection,” Uma says.
Sculptors now create different images of deities like the Sangeetha Ganapathy which has Lord Vighnesha carrying musical instruments.
Uma’s collection has Sree Krishna and Radha in a different attire, Lord Vighneswara and Lord Siva in a pose similar to the Ardha Nareeshwara concept, and Parvathy carved inside the Shivalingam.
“We started the display as a ritual but now it has become a hobby for us to collect as many images as possible,” says P S Raman, Uma’s husband. “During foreign trips I search for rare clay models. We have sculptures of some Australian birds which are included in the bommakolu collection,” Raman says. One image of Goddess Saraswathi has five faces symbolising four Vedas and one Upanishad. A special idol, Marappachi, carved out of red sandal, is also a part of the display.
Women start arranging bommakolu a day after the new moon night in the month of Kanni. Special pujas are offered on the first day of Navaratri. Mother Goddess is worshipped as Durga in the first three days and then as Mahalakshmi.
From the seventh day onwards the worship is for Goddess Saraswathi.
On each day special dishes will be offered to the goddesses which are later served to family members and neighbours. On Tuesday and Friday sweets are offered to the deities while on other days special dishes are prepared from dal and other cereals. A small pot filled with rice and decorated with coconut and leaves will be placed right in the middle of the display. Pujas are performed with the concept that the divine power is present in this pot.
On Vijayadhashami day, family members will spread this rice and write Malayalam letters on it to mark Vidyarambham and a new year of learning. After completing the rituals related to the display of bommakolu, all the images will be taken from the specially designed rack and carefully packed to be stored in the puja room. It will be kept there till the Navaratri next year when a new set of idols will be added to it.
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