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People invite friends and relatives to their homes to see the Golu display.

Each guest gets a small bag of gifts. People sing devotional songs and play

music.
What about the food? On each of the ten days

of Navaratri, a special dish called sundal is

prepared. The delicious sundal is made with

groundnuts, peas and various pulses.
The display of dolls stays throughout the

Navaratri days. On the tenth day, the dolls are

taken off the stand and packed away carefully.
They are kept for the next year’s Golu. Every

year people add new dolls to their set and the

collection grows larger.
The Japanese dolls’ festival Hinamatsuri is

very similar to Golu. The Hinamatsuri dolls

are arranged on a red platform. Ornamental
dolls of the emperor, empress, attendants,

musicians and courtiers are displayed on it.

Hinamatsuri is also called ‘Girls’ Day’. People
believe that the dolls will protect them from

evil spirits. A sweet drink called amazake is

special to the Hinamatsuri festival.

Festivals give us a break from our everyday
routine. So we look forward to festivals. It is

also fascinating to learn about them!

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