Navarathri Kolu by Septuagenarian
Mrs Kamala Rangarajan, now in her early seventies, continues to gather larger and larger number of admirers every year to Navarathri Kolu she organises in her house in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. She prides displaying a prestigious collection of hundreds of ancient and archaic dolls having great cultural and religious significance. Every year some new pieces get added too. The Kolu has attracted media attention several times in the past. You can see the latest video clip from TV9 team here. Even if you have been there, find out what you have missed observing!
Youtube Video mentioned above is missing since a few months. Hence I sharing some photos taken during our recent (Oct 2019) visit to their house.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TRGvyCA6P4qdkRWy8
I have visited this fascination exhibition of dolls in Justice Rangarajan's house a few times. I had always been drawn back into my childhood days. It was great fun for children to visit good number of houses in the neighbourhood, get entertained by many devotional songs, collect packets and packets of Sundal, exchange views comparing many Kolus etc. Not to mention about the opportunity for adolescent boys to take a quick glance at pretty girls and catch some furtive look or two. In those days "boys mixing with girls and vice versa" was a strict No, No. Dasara time was a splendid time full of fun and enjoyment.
With people like Mrs Kamala Rangarajan taking keen interest in retaining and spreading our culture, should we fear our culture may disappear? The secret behind her success, I guess, is the support and co-operation from her husband, Justice TNC Rangarajan.
[Edited on 6th Oct 2019]
