Golu 2008

Finished and posted it at last............
The festival of Navrathri or Dusshera is celebrated in most parts of India. This festival is unique in that its a 9 day long celebration for the Goddessess - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. In TamilNadu, Navrathri is never complete without the 'Golu' or the dolls arrangment on steps. In West Bengal, its Durga Pooja when huge mud idols of the Goddessess are placed in specially erected 'pandals' and special poojas performed on the nine days.
When we were young, we would eagerly await 'Golu' for its when young and old get together and a multitude of talent is displayed.People invite friends and family for tamboolam and to visit the 'golu' in each other's homes. Most of the famous temples thesedays have grand display of Golu bommais(dolls). This festival would usually fall during the September holidays, just after the quarterly exams, so it would be a perfect way to unwind. I lived for most part of my life with my grandparents in Chennai and memories of the huge Golu linger fresh in my memory.
The previous day, our milkman(we had a cow and a calf until 1997 and drank cow's milk until then)would bring down the golu baskets from the loft and the metal steps would be brought down from the terrace room. They would be assembled using screws, nuts and bolts and the huge bales of white cloth would be used to cover the seven green painted steps. We had a huge mud idol of Durga seated on a fierce looking tiger which would always occupy the centre position on the top most step. On either side would be seated Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi and few other tall idols. The first 3 steps would be filled with idols of Gods and Goddesses. The fourth step would usually be an Asthalakshmi set. Fifth would hold the dasavatharam. Sixth would usually be some Krishan leelas and Seventh would adorn the huge talai-attum chettair and his wife along with soem Tanjore bommais. Of the sets that would adorn the remaining part of the hall on the top floor would be a village with lots of thatched roof houses, farmers, a well and many women doing different daily chores like washing, cleaning etc. Then there would be the customary park, a temple atop a hill, a garuda sevai set, a zoo, a white cricket set, a marriage conducted in a hall, another marriage procession with the bride and groom sitting on a decorated swan shaped car, a school with a computer lab and few others that have faded from my memory. It would take us a whole day to set everything up and be satisfied at the end of it. Then would begin the trips to the local mamis to invite them for golu and get innumerable sundal packets from them.
My grandmother would usually serve lunch and give clothes away to young girls on one day and to older women on another day. We would also visit aunts and other relatives' during this season.
Fast forward to now, when I had to juggle between work, home, caring for a 20 month old toddler and looking for Golu items. A month earlier I started the preparations. I decided on what would go in each step and had arough idea of where to find them. Most of the items were charity shop finds. I contmeplated making the steps with wooden planks, but then decided to use the furniture and cardboard boxes. They were arranged and it took about a couple of hours to get everything arranged and set up the lights. Aditi was terribly sweet and really never troubled the dolls or the steps, but partly it was because I had set the Golu up in the study, rather than in the living room where she usually spends most of her time.
We had about a dozen people for tamboolam over the weekend and Aditi has totally fun. We had a wonderful time and it was soon time to pack up the dolls. So they were packed in newspapers and safely placed in cardboard boxes and carefully moved to the attic, where they will remain until the next year.

For pictures, please go to Golu in pictures