Beyond nine padis and marapachis
The world in her golu!
SS Revathi, retired employee of MTC
“I have been keeping golu for 43 years and this year the theme is ‘golu and the places we visited’. From handpicked dolls from my visit to Japan, Singapore and Malaysia to dolls from my short trips to Gujarat, Assam and Orissa, my golu is all about travel! The one-horned rhino, from Assam, the Murugan doll from Malaysia and the traditional dolls from Rajasthan are some of my favourites. But, the 100-year-old twin cat dolls remain close to my heart — it was my mother’s (smiles).
My golus are popular in the area for the handmade crochet and wax dolls/figurines. Be it the plate full of ripe looking fruits and vegetable, or the group of swans in front of the golu, I did it all! (beams) In fact, the crochet chariot you see here is over 40 years old. I plan almost a month ahead of Navaratri about the year’s theme and that’s why I am able to execute it well. But I am old now and try keeping it simple. This season is all about the bhajans, kollatam and the dolls for me. Next year, I will plan something more creative!”
Old vs new
Mythili Sridharan, accountant
“One thing I love about Navaratri and setting up golu is spending time off the routine schedule along with my husband. We set the padi and arrange the dolls together and I have to credit him for taking the interest. Last three or four years, we have even won awards! (smiles) My collection of dolls include ones that are over 40 years old — like the Dasavatharam, Lakshmi and Saraswathi dolls you see in the first three steps (from top). The second half is about eight years old.
I stumbled upon a doll maker, Geetha from Kodambakkam, who makes these wonderful stuffed dolls. The concept and clothing of dolls are customised according to our instructions and they look beautiful. What’s great is that they don’t break and are easy to maintain. My favourites from the collection are the Ashtalakshmi, Krishna, Rama and the kalyana scene sets! The new dolls that are in the market don’t have lakshanamana features these days and are very blunt. I remember going to different houses with friends and ‘golu-hopping’, even without invites (laughs). These days we have to fix appointments before visiting every house. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see many youngsters who are abroad keeping up with the tradition and setting up small golus there. It’s the essence of the season that matters.”
All about light and tradition
Malini Srinivasan, golfer
“Golu has been a family affair for exactly 50 years now. I started getting into the practice only after marriage, but have loved doing it till date. Since ours was a close knit-joint family, the children were enthusiastic about building hills, parks and what-not for golu! Now it’s mostly just me who’s enthusiastic about it (laughs) I don’t do thematic golus and for me it’s about the tradition. So, I keep whatever I feel will make the golu more traditional and most of the dolls are of gods and goddesses.
We keep dolls of the god each of us in the house worship — my favourite is Rama! (exclaims) I even bought a new Rama doll this year and I have placed him in the top. Hanuman, scenes of Ramar Pattabhishekam and of Vishnu and his consorts are prominent in this golu. The newest addition this year is a Muruga and Ganesha dolls. The tall Krishna idol is 73 years old (smiles).
My mother-in-law bought it when my husband was 10. We garland it every day and during golu time, he takes his place there. Usually about 100 people turn up for golu in our house and I feel this festival is about meeting people, staying positive and brightness. That’s why this room is always lit with lights and, you see the array of glass bangles on the floor? It really doesn’t have a specific significance. I just feel it brings in positivity and they have become part of the golu as well. Arranging the dolls keeps me focused and at the end of the day it’s about feeling good, isn’t it?”
Lessons from Ramayana through golu
Sangita Sridhar, homemaker
Everyone knows the story of Ramayana, and what we’re supposed to learn from it is what I have highlighted in my golu — the navarasas, nava vidha saranagathi and nava sthreegal. The navarasas are the emotions, which everyone has. For example, the Sringaram rasa, meaning love — shown where Sita and Ram love each other.
What we should learn is that we can have Sringaram but within the limits of dharma, not like how Ravana took away Sita. The nava vidhi saranagathi is about complete surrender; there are many instances where people ask Rama for protection, including Ravana’s own brother who was thrown out by Ravana. Even if an enemy asks for protection, Rama helped him.
The nava sthreegal looks at the nine important women in Ramayana in three categories — how Rama physically touches them and changes them, winning Sita by breaking the bow with his had, releasing Ahalya from her curse as a stone by stepping on the stone and Sabari, a tribal women; then the three mothers, with their own reasons for giving birth — suyam labam (self gain), para labam (use for the world) and parama labam (to serve the lord and serve the devotee); and finally three women enemies who praised Rama, Surpanakha, Tara(Vaali’s wife) and Mandodari (Ravana’s wife).”
Why should Women have all the Fun?
Crazy Mohan, actor-cum-filmmaker
The only man who laid out the golu all by himself, and also gives away the vethalai pakku to visitors, Crazy Mohan greets us with ‘Hope you don’t ask me to sing as well!’. “Every year, since my granddaughter was born six years ago, I’ve been keeping golu regularly. When she was born, I got the Bala Rathna award, perhaps a starter for Bharath Ratna one day (laughs). As a regard to that Bala award, I keep the Navaratri golu.
Navaratri is meant for ladies, but if it were meant for men, and if I were to keep my own Golu, the top-most bommais would be Rajini and Kamal, and below that will have Goundamani and Senthil bommais. But this is my granddaughter’s golu, so I had to stick to the normal way. Most of the dolls you see are either gifts or awards — such as that Krishna. So I guess you can say my theme is ‘Awards’ golu! The whole arrangement I did, with the help of my granddaughter, who particularly wanted to do that Chotta Bheem doll setup.”
A Friend in need
Vijaya Sridharan, former principal of PSBB School
“I have been keeping golu since after retirement. I started doing themes which kept getting bigger every year! This year the theme is ‘friendship’, as suggested by my granddaughter. Friendships are in all Indian mythologies in history, fables and folk tales. I categorised friendships — Ramayana, Avvaiyar’s friendships from Sangam literature.
I have also shown negative friendships — where two friends produced negative effects to the world, such as Saguni and his nephew Dhuryodhana, and Karna and Duryodhana. I also selected three strong women friendships, such as from the Usha Parinayam, between Usha and Chitralekha. Chitralekha has the talent of drawing anything described to her — so when Usha has a dream about a man, whom she falls in love with, she desires to find him and describes the man to Chitralekha who draws him and finds that it is in fact Krishna’s grandson Anirudha.
Chitralekha also helped bring Anirudha from Krishna’s kingdom for Usha. Another story is that of Velu Nachiyar, freedom fighter from Palayamkottai. Her friend Kuyili sets herself ablaze in a building in which Nachiyar’s enemies had stored bombs to destroy her — uyir kudukum natpu. Other friendships on display are between gods and devotees, between historical figures like Julius and Caesar, between animals such as the story of the lion and the rat, the monkey and the crocodile, and many more.
First-time Golu
‘Pop’ Shalini, singer of Dailamo fame
“They say you should never stop keeping golu once you start, and this year I felt mentally prepared to do it (laughs). I was looking for eco-friendly dolls, and managed to get a few non-toxic dolls, mostly in Chennai. I picked a few from Khadi, and from a women's exhibition handmade by them. I bought the temple tank set-up from Mylapore.
The theme is pretty simple — temples, elephants, and a gurukulam within the campus — it wasn’t planned, it just became that way. I have also kept a Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose doll, because my son wanted to keep that (laughs)! The marapachi bommais were gifted by my sister-in-law, which I had fun dressing up. Being my first time, people were surprised that though it was a small setup, it was all neat and complete, unlike the most elaborate ones! So, I guess I am looking forward to next year’s golu as well!”
Nava Durgas during Navaratri
Madhuvanthi Arun, theatre artiste
“I follow the tradition of keeping a golu very religiously. This year, however, I couldn’t make it very elaborate because of my grandfather’s (YGP) centenary celebrations. I keep different themes every year, though I don’t strictly follow it. Whatever bommai I like at the Mylapore Mada vidhi, I pick it up, and my whole golu evolves around that. This year, the theme is Nava Durgas. Previously, I had done themes like Sudharshanar and Narasimhar, Dakshinamoorthy, and even Dasavatharam once. Lakshmi, my housekeeper, is my backbone throughout this golu season — she takes me shopping for the bommais, prepares sundal and everything else needed for the pooja everyday — it wouldn’t be possible without her!”
Pachai nirame, Pachai nirame!
Divya Narasimhan, professor at NIFT
This year my golu theme is about the colour green. Colours are an important aspect of Indian culture. We react to them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This reaction is called colour psychology. The etymology of the word ‘Haritha’ (Sanskrit word for green) is the word ‘Har’ meaning everything. From ‘Haritha’ we get the words ‘Hari’, referring to Lord Vishnu and ‘Hara’, to Lord Shiva. Also, the word Harthalika, refers to Parvathi — the three main gods in Hinduism. Green can be interpreted in many ways — most currency bills in the world are green, as it’s associated with prosperity and wealth; green vegetables are highly nutritious.
I have depicted the beginning of life, like how a seemingly lifeless seed grows into a tree, in the Dasavatharam. Also, Indian culture has meanings for green — Kamadeva, the lord of desire is green, his vahanam is a green parrot, and Kamakshi is also green. In Buddhism, green Tara is considered to be the source of life. In Islam, green is given a lot of importance — green mosques, green-bound Qurans, etc. In Christianity, the green Christmas tree is a symbol of spring waiting to come after winter. Ma elai thornam, banana plants, betel leaf — all are symbols of auspiciousness. Emeralds are used for healing. Incidentally, Pantone colour of the year for this year is green! The textiles of Kanchipuram have many greens than any other place in the world — kili pachai, ma pachai, elai pachai, ka pachai, inji pachai, mayil kazhuthu, etc. Another speciality of green is that it’s neutral and dual, represented by Budhadev, a genderless god, who stands for wisdom and wealth.”