Sankranthi-Bommala Koluvu/Bogipallu/Arisala Adugulu

I have been dreaming for so many years to do bommala koluvu (toys display). When I was in 8th grade I saw bommala koluvu once in our neighbor's house. They had lot of fine dolls on display, and of course as a little girl I was so tempting to play with them.  And at the same time I wanted to do this type of display myself. Finally time has arrived to make my dream come true.  I decided to do bommala koluvu with my baby.

I have been so eagerly waiting for Sankranthi to arrive this year because I planned to do Bommala koluvu, Bogipallu and Arisela Adugulu for my baby. Sankranthi is special for me since childhood days.  I grew up in a small village where my dad was a farmer.  During Sankranthi every house in the village would come alive.  Fresh paddy bags from rice crop harvest are stacked.  Huge colorful rangolis are laid in front of the every house. A small ball of cow dung with colorful flowers on top of it is placed in the middle of every rangoli.  Sankranthi is harvest festival and is the time of year traditionally when farmers make money by selling their harvest.  So at this time we get new clothes and my mother used to make lot of traditional sweets and snacks. Not only for farmer families but every family is in festive mood.  Haridass, Gangireddhu people  and katikaparulu visit every house and people donate rice to them. Sankranthi is celebrated over three days.  First day is Bogi, second day is Sankranthi festival and final day is Kanuma.

First day which is Bogi we usually wake up early in the morning, collect firewood, set a bonfire, sit around fire for a while and then take a bath. January is winter in India and sitting around fire on a chilly winter morning feels wonderful.  Some families arrange bommala koluvu in the morning then in the evening perform bogi pallu pouring for children below five years.  During this time of the year a very special fruit called Bher fruit is in season.  Bher fruit are small in size and are perfect for pouring.  They are mixed with marigold petals and are poured over babies head.  Sometimes we add small coins to the pour mix and ask other children to collect the coins as they drop on the floor. Whoever collects the most coins is declared a winner. Its a fun occasion for everyone.

I decided to make it more fun, so I added arisala (andhra sweet) adugulu (steps) to the festivities.  For this one would place odd number of arisalu on the floor and make children walk by stepping on each arisa.   My baby who is only 8 months old at the did great job stepping on each arisa, ofcourse with help holding him up.

On the second day of the festival we do puja in the morning then we make sweets and lot of special items.  All the family members and guests would sit together and eat these items.  Now I am going to explain to you my bommala koluvu and how I arranged each level.  The hard part for me was to setup 5 levels which I accomplished mostly with my baby diaper boxes and books.

Top level I started with house because it all starts in a house, family, happiness, achivements etc. After that I arranged countryside, village setup because I was grew up in a small village.  At the same time it represents clean environment, no pollution, healthy living style. Then its kondapalli bommalu kitchen setup with barbie family.

 

Second level is tea party set up, Irish doll and basket full of toy fruits.
On the third level I placed light lamps at the ends. Disney toy couple in the center and the rest are small toys like birds, fish etc.

Fourth level consists of divine statues of Ganesh, Buddha and Krishna.

On the last level I placed Ganesh idol with flowers on both ends. Then I finished this level with my favorite kiddy bank and toy sewing machine.

At the bottom I added more flowers, fruits  and peacocks to give glamorous look. This is the way I have arranged my bommala  koluvu. I have set up five levels but some  go for 9, 11 or even more levels.

Third day of Sankranthi is Kanuma. On this day some people offer clothes to the elder people and get blessings from them.  Pujas are performed to cows, buffalo. This is to show our gratitude towards them for helping us in farming, providing milk and much more.  More food items are cooked on this day including non-vegetarian items and enjoyed by family and guests.