Hina Matsuri (The Doll Festival)

Hina Matsuri (The Doll Festival)

Of the thousands of notable entities in Japan the one that Japanese can boasts of with great pride are the Japanese dolls. Dolls and the Japanese culture are inseparable entities. Dolls in Japan are manufactured since the early days of the Japanese culture. As a matter of fact the Japanese history has strong presence of the dolls from its primitive time. The present day Japan showcases a huge bouquet of various types of dolls; in many shapes and of various characters. The Japanese culture as a whole boasts a festival known as Hina Matsuri or 'the Doll Festival'.

There are many types of dolls manufactured in Japan. These beautiful creations are categorized as

Daruma dolls: These are spherical dolls red in color and a white face, interestingly without pupils representing the Zen monk Bodhidharma.

Kokeshi dolls: These simple shaped wooden dolls from the northern province of Honshu were first used as a souvenirs at the hot spring resorts during the Edo Period.

Hakata dolls: These beautifully crafted and painted clay dolls are manufactured in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu.

Hina Dolls: These dolls are mostly used on display during the Hina Matsuri.

The 3rd day of the month of March is celebrated as Doll Festival day or Hina Matsuri. The festival has reinforced its importance in the Japanese culture as the festival where special prayers are offered for the well being of the girl's. Families bearing young girls usually celebrate this occasion by displaying dolls inside their house. The dolls are offered rice crackers and other food.

The costumes of the dolls showcases the costumes worn at the imperial court during the Heian period (794-1192). For the display the dolls are kept on a tiered platform covered by a red cloth. The display of different houses may vary but usually the the dolls are displayed on either five or seven tiers.

The top tier is booked for the emperor and the empress. A miniature of the throne is kept behind the dolls.

The array of three ladies-in-waiting is set for the second tier followed by five male court musicians on the third. The ministers occupies the fourth tier with the trays of food kept in between them. The fifth row is the characterized by the guards flanked by orange tree in the left and the cherry tree on the right.

The festival of displaying the dolls on the third or fourth day of the month is practiced in lieu of driving away the evil spirits and ill luck along with the wishes of better health of the girls. Hina Matsuri is a proclaimed festival of Japan which has quite a name in the world and is one of the most attractive events in the sparkling spring in Japan.

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