Rows of dolls recreate weddings, temples, schools and bustling village scenes, while goddesses occupy their place of honour on the Golu steps. At Priya Rajesh’s home, Bommai Golu unfolds as a celebration of faith, culture and everyday life. A tradition she has cherished since childhood, it is also her way of passing on stories and preserving a collection that includes dolls inherited from her great-grandparents. For her, it is an opportunity to preserve family traditions, celebrate the strength of women and introduce children to stories that deserve to be remembered.
“The main significance is to showcase the tradition and tell the stories of our gods to the children, the next generation. We have to involve them in keeping the Golu. I am a tuition teacher, so I invite all the children and tell them each and every story of each and every god so that they will know a tradition which is very much needed nowadays,” begins Priya.
She believes Bommai Golu also reflects the strength and vibrancy of women through the goddesses it celebrates. She expresses, “We welcome all the goddesses into our home and show the vibrant nature of the goddess. Our culture symbolises feminism. This festival is a symbol of feminism actually, and how strong a woman can be. Though we make ourselves slow, we are still stronger, and our Puranas and each and every story tell us how strong the goddess was.”
Priya’s association with the festival began in childhood, when she would arrange Golu at her mother’s home. “I am very, very, very fond of this Bommai Golu festival. It is my most favourite festival actually,” she recalls. The practice has continued through her married life, spanning 21 years. The tradition has also travelled across generations in her Tamil Brahmin family. “I have dolls which are 100 years old. They came from my great-grandparents,” she adds.
The preparations begin on Amavasya, when the steps are arranged and at least one doll is placed. The complete Golu is usually set up by Navratri, with puja beginning the following day. The steps are arranged in odd numbers with the main goddesses placed on the topmost steps. At home, Priya begins with her Kuladevam.
Her collection brings together several stories and aspects of everyday life. There are Meenakshi Sundaresan Kalyanam, Srinivasa Padmavati Kalyanam, Bhojanadu wedding, Upanayanam and Srimantham, alongside Krishna Leela and a village set. Another section recreates agriculture, following the process from sowing seeds to packing the produce into bags and transporting it by bullock cart. She also has a school, a children’s play area and a small mela featuring Ayyappa Swami Sabarimalai, Palani Subramanya Swami, Venkat Avadi and Thiruvannamalai Giridhara Dakshinam. Every year, she adds new dolls to the collection.
Preserving them after Navratri is a task she undertakes herself, carefully wiping each figure, wrapping it in newspaper and storing it in cardboard boxes with layers of husk or pepper before placing them in the attic.
For Priya, the tradition must remain rooted in devotion and understanding rather than becoming merely a display. “We have to preserve our traditions, follow all the rituals and do it with full bhakti. I don’t want this to be as a show. We should know each and every story behind the dolls and tell them to the next generation. Even many of us in our generation don’t know many stories, so I love to tell all the stories of my dolls,” she concludes, adding that her family and friends support her in arranging the Golu.
