Gombe Habba becoming rare in City

People across the City earlier celebrated Navarathri festival with ‘Gombe Habba.’ However, having rows of dolls, making miniature size food items for offerings and children going from home to home to see the arrangement of dolls, all seems a rarity these days.

“The rural areas have managed to preserve the rituals unlike in the towns and cities, where people lack time and have busy schedules. 

About 20 years ago, the celebrations used to be much more grand and majestic. But now, time constraints have caused much of the glitter to fade away,” said Dr Ganapathi Hegde, a City based Sanskrit professor. 

He added that in some places they celebrate Dasara only for three days rather than nine days. People also recite all the 700 shlokas of the Durga Saptashati. In places like Uttara Kannada, the tribal communities perform regular pujas in the many devi temples, he added. 

From dolls made of ceramic to the traditional wooden ‘Pattada Gombe’, the arrangements are not just a feast to the eye. Each of these rituals has a scientific reason behind it, most people believe. “Each custom and tradition we follow has a scientific reason behind it. From serving food in plantain leaves to having betel leaves in the end, a lot of thought goes behind all these,” explained Rama, a teacher. 

The idols are not extensively used everywhere as they are in Mysore or Bangalore. 

The basic idea of dolls is to educate people, especially children, believe many. A good amount of curiosity is generated when you look at those glorified idols and then comes the story behind each of them.

Even though the generation today has gone astray with respect to the knowledge involved, the idols are a good way to keep them informed. One important ceremony that is conducted is the Dampathi Puja, which is meant for married couples. It is considered as one of the most auspicious ceremonies.