Indian hockey team doll sets the theme for Navratri

“Every year we have new sets for theme based dolls. A few people want to collect new dolls, while a lot of others are just looking for something different. So, this time, hockey team is the new addition. The takers are few, but people are curious when they see it,” explains Prabhu, a street vendor in Mylapore.

Apart from the dolls of sports and political figures, dolls in innovative themes that support environmental causes are also popular. However, it is the traditional Golu dolls that make its way to most of the temples and pandals across the city. The colourfully painted tiny dolls, which are traditionally placed on nine steps to denote each day of the festivity, will be arranged for viewing at all festive and religious venues in the city till September 29.

Depending on which temple you go to, you can feast your eyes on Golu displays that range from 100 dolls to 1500 dolls, like at the Arulmigu Vadapalani Andavar Temple. “Many of our dolls are antique and traditional pieces. Over the course of 10 days, we will display over 1,500 dolls by putting up new pieces every day,” says the manager of the temple. Meanwhile, GST has taken a toll on the doll vendors. “We have a lot of takers for the dolls since it is for a festival, but selling them is tough work. Most of the customers are shocked by the price hike of the dolls and don’t really understand when we say it is because of GST. They keep asking us to reduce the price and many just walk away thinking we are trying to rip them off because they got the same type of dolls at a much lower price last year,” says Banu, another street vendor selling bommais.