Srinivas Jayashankar of East Meadow's Navaratri display celebrates Hindu religion, traditions

From the outside, Srinivas Jayashankar’s East Meadow home is like any other on its suburban block. But as one gets closer, it becomes clear that something very special awaits.

The first clue is the descent to Jayashankar’s basement, which is accessed from the backyard. The stairs are festooned in colorful kites with tassels and bright orange and yellow garlands of artificial marigolds. Inside, elaborate displays and large murals fill the lower level — plastic pink flamingos atop boulders; a white-bearded man, surrounded by statuettes in bejeweled crowns and lying on a golden bed of arrows; and a six-armed figure clad in red astride a lion, with a blue mustachioed doll at his feet.

The exhibit — which features about half of Jayashankar’s roughly 3,000 dolls — is a labor of love for the immigration attorney, 67, who said he spends the better part of a year assembling the scenes for Navaratri, the Hindu festival that began Thursday, Oct. 3, and ends Oct. 12. The holiday, also spelled Navratri, is one of the most significant in the Hindu religion.

Jayashankar’s display has become a source of cultural pride for some in Long Island’s Hindu community — a place where they can honor their religious traditions and pass them on to the next generation.

Referring to the United States, Kavya Keshaw, a medical coder for Northwell Health who lives in Levittown, said, “Over here, for Christmas and Thanksgiving — you get out of the house, you can feel the vibe.”

But for her children, who are removed from Indian culture, Keshaw, 39, said, “We have to create the vibe — to give our kids the cultural values and the history, and to teach them how to preserve and continue the tradition.”

THREE-PART CELEBRATION

Navaratri is a celebration of the Hindu Mother Goddess. Often, the holiday is separated into three parts: The first three days are dedicated to Durga, goddess of protection who defeats evil spirits; the next three are devoted to Lakshmi, goddess of wealth; and the final three focus on Saraswati, goddess of education.

The 10th day marks the celebration of Dussehra, the triumph of good over evil.

“After the nine days, the 10th day is called a ‘Victory Day,’ ” said Jayashankar, who hails from Bangalore, India (now known as Bengalaru). “On the 10th day, you can start anything: If you want to start a business, or start your kids with writing, or anything.”

Navaratri is celebrated differently depending on what part of India you’re from, said M.R. Ravi Vaidyanaat Sivachariar, director of religious affairs for the Šri Mahã Vallabha Ganapati Devasthãnam Temple in Flushing, Queens, where Jayashankar worships.

“There are a lot of local cultural things added to the festival,” said Sivachariar. “Some places they do dancing, some places they light lamps, some places they do a display of various dolls.”

But, he added, “The concept is the same: praying to the goddess.”

In southern India, where Jayashankar is from, many Hindus set up displays of dolls in their homes that represent religious characters and texts, said Chandru Vellur, 60, an IT specialist from Westbury. A longtime friend of the Jayashankar family, Vellur said celebrants gather at the end of each day to dance, sing, eat and exchange sweets, dresses and other items.

‘SIX TO EIGHT HOURS EVERY DAY’

Jayashankar said he started collecting the dolls about a dozen years ago, when he bought a few at his temple during that year’s Navaratri festival.

“We started it slowly and then it became a big hobby for the last seven or eight years,” he said. “We’ve been growing it little by little, and for the last four years, we’ve grown it exponentially.”

Most of his dolls are purchased during annual trips to India, where he visits dollmakers in Chennai, Bengalaru and Mysore, he said. Other dolls are purchased through the internet, he added. Jayashankar has lost count of how much he has spent on the project.

The dolls, made from materials including wood, fiber, cloth and clay, are arranged to depict historical events as well as religious stories from Hindu culture.

Jayashankar said he plans out his exhibits in three-year periods. This year, his display features scenes from the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary and the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam, both in southern India, and stories from the Indian epic tale, the Mahabharata. In one scene, complete with real sand, figures surround the character of Bhishma, who is dying.

“He spends six to eight hours every day,” Vellur said of his friend’s display. “It’s like a job for him. Every day he thinks about the next design, goes on the internet, orders things from Amazon or from India. He puts in a lot of effort, a lot of thinking, into it.”

It is a family affair, said Jayashankar, who consults with his wife, Sreelakshmi, when putting the displays together. His son, Raj Shankar, 38, of Westbury, affixes QR codes to the displays, which visitors can click on to watch TikTok or YouTube videos featuring Jayashankar speaking about the scenes.

STUDENT VISITORS

As part of the celebration, Jayashankar said he runs youth workshops annually for about 100 children in his neighborhood and from his temple. The children learn about the different themes on display and are later quizzed on them, with some winning cash prizes.

“The most important thing for me is at least I’m giving back to my community and putting it to the next generation,” he said.

Venkat Sathiyamoorthy, 46, who works in health care management and lives in Syosset, said he met Jayashankar at the temple in Flushing. In addition to celebrating Navaratri in his own home, Sathiyamoorthy said he enjoys visiting Jayashankar’s home during the holiday.

Through the dolls, Jayashankar can convey the values of the Hindu religion to children in a fun, user-friendly way, Sathiyamoorthy said.

“So as they grow up, it doesn’t become too serious, but they’ve learned all these stories,” he said. “When you get these good stories that instill really good morals and really good work ethics, really good values, it stays with the kids. That’s the whole idea behind it.”

Veena Mahesh, 45, a teacher who lives in East Meadow, said her son and daughter have visited Jayashankar’s house during Navaratri for many years. Her daughter, Prisha Gowda, 16, volunteers for the doll festival, during which there is storytelling and role playing.

“The kids love it. . . . They learn about the history and each tells a moral story,” Mahesh said.

Using the abbreviated form of his name, she added, “What we appreciate about Shankar doing this is that it is keeping the tradition alive for my kids and all the children, because we left our country and kids don’t get the chance to see all this. Keeping up . . . the roots is very important.”