Decades old ‘BommalaKoluvu’ tradition kept alive

Hyderabad: Urbanisation and technological innovations have changed the way festivals were celebrated earlier. Some residents during Sankranti used to celebrate ‘BommalaKoluvu’. But slowly this old tradition has faded away. However, B Padmavathi of the city has kept the tradition alive by displaying unique dolls and idols during the festival. She displays nearly 3,000 dolls.

A homemaker and resident of Anand Nagar Colony, Khairatabad, she said “generally display of toys is done during Deepavali or Dasara, but at our place, we display them on Sankranti. We have been following this tradition for the past 70 years. Also every year we come up with various concepts that include the army fighting a war, the Rythu Bazaar depicting vendors and market, village atmosphere with cobblers, potters. Nirmal toys of tigers, leopards, elephants and birds such as crane, peacock, among others, are being showcased.

Almost all toys are made of clay and wood. Arranging these toys and dolls in a row takes almost a week. It takes a few weeks to carefully remove and preserve them for next year’s display. These artifacts on display are from various States and overseas--from Nirmal, Kondapalli, China, the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sweden, Finland, and Australia, she added.3