Wish I could visit a Golu today!

 

Wish I could visit a Golu today!

Several years ago one of Mani’s seniors in college and in the department, and who is a Tamilian, invited us over to his house for dinner. Never the ones to say ‘no’ to a south Indian meal, we descended on them dot on the appointed hour. What aroused my interest there was a display of figurines on a tiered structure put up right in their living room. I was curious but hesitant to ask questions lest it should be considered ill-mannered. For a long time the wonderful taste of rice and lentil pancakes served with smooth coconut chutney and excellent Tamilian sambar lingered in my mind, but I forgot all that his wife told me about the strange arrangement even though the image left its mark.

We went from the north to live in Hyderabad and Bangalore for some years, ate hundreds of dosas as well as all kinds of sambar, attended several functions and witnessed celebrations of many festivals before finally going to live in Chennai nearly half a decade ago.

One hot and humid Navratri afternoon (that is Chennai climate almost 330 days a year) as I was leaving the tailoring school, the senior principal of ICF Higher Secondary School (the tailoring school was in a part of that building), Mrs Kanchna Mala, stopped me and insisted that I visit their Golu. Physically exhausted and mentally drained, and not understanding what she wanted me to see, yet not meaning to be impolite, I unwillingly dragged my feet to follow her.

I entered the first room of the school, took off my sandals as she had done, hitched my sari up (we generally do it so that the sari does not sweep the floor and get dirty) and looked up to see what she was very proudly showing me. And there it was, the same tiered display of figurines that I had seen many many years ago and which had stayed in my mind. It was like a flash from the past, a long-forgotten question now answered. My fatigue disappeared and like a child who has just been given a surprise gift, my eyes teared up, my throat gurgled with dozens of questions hurrying to come out and I just stared in awe.

Golu put up in the ICF Silver Jubilee Matriculation Higher Secondary School (2017)

Big and small, painted wood and clay figures of deities, men, women, birds and animals, vessels or scenes from everyday household life, were arranged on the tiers. I paid my obeisance, happily accepted the prasadam, even took the share for Mani ‘Saar’, as also the customary blouse ‘piece’, chattered on for a while, and happily came back home, my mind alert and happy and my body having forgotten the fatigue.

Aren’t you now curious about what Golu is?

Golu is an arrangement, a display of dolls, done in homes in the southern states of India during the Navratri or the nine days and nights in late September or early to mid-October which are celebrated to honour the victory of good over evil. We are all familiar with celebration of Durga pooja, the celebrations by our countrymen in the eastern or north-eastern states to honour the killing of buffalo demon by Goddess Durga and Dussehra by people in the north to celebrate Lord Rama defeating and killing demon king Ravana.

Although I am told that in Andhra Pradesh it is celebrated as Bommala Koluvu and in Karnataka as Gombe Habba, somehow I never had the opportunity to see it during our years of stay there. So Golu remains a   fond memory of Chennai and today on the first day of Navratri, I am missing it.

By the way, in the north of India, chubby-cheeked or rounded little boys, the ones who look well-fed and cute, are nicknamed Golu. For added accent the little boy might also be called Golu-Molu.

Golu baby

Each doll made of clay or wood painted bright and sometimes clothed in shiny apparel, is called Golu. The whole display is generally theme-based.

My friend Kalpana Aravamuthu tells me that wooden panels/planks are arranged in odd numbers for the Bommai Kolu which in Tamil means divine presence.  The larger figures and those of gods and goddesses get the upper shelves while the scenes from the everyday life are arranged on the bottom ones.

Bottom shelf of the Golu above

The deities include Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) and Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge), Ganesha (the elephant-headed god) and Dashaavatar (ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu) and mythical figures. Wedding scenes or musicians playing their instruments are also popular themes. The non-mythical or common everyday life themes may include a scene from a village with a farm, mountains, seth-sethani (wealthy merchant and his wife), while the modern town scene might even boast of a petrol pump, fountains and traffic lights.

Kalpana’s mother, who went to Australia early this year to visit her other daughter and got stuck because of Covid restrictions, is yearning to come back home as Navratri begins today and she has her Golu collection here. Enthusiastic about the occasion, she had always used it to give expression to her creativity. In fact, if she had to depict a farm, she would sow mustard seeds in a small container and the freshly germinated seedlings would give the display a touch of reality. Sorry my precious readers, I do not have the picture of her Golu that I saw in Chennai. The one shown below is a simpler version put up by her daughter last year.

These Marapachi (wooden) dolls are passed down from a mother to her daughter during her wedding. The daughter adds one doll every year to build her collection and passes it on to her daughter. 

Nothing to do with any caste or class of society, Golu is basically a women’s festival. The women who have set it up in their house, call their friends and acquaintances to come visit it.  The visitors generally come in the afternoons and evenings any or every day for the nine days of Navratri. Sometimes there is an exchange of gifts. Together they sing devotional and whatever new classical songs they have learnt. Did I catch a hint of derision in her voice when she said they do not sing Bollywood songs? But who would want Bollywood songs anyway when there is classical music offered free to enjoy?

Everyday the hostess lights a lamp in front of the Golu. She makes one sundal and one sweet dish to offer to god and distribute as prasadam to whoever comes home. Sundal is basically a savoury, dry legume-lentil preparation, spiced and tempered with mustard and fresh coconut. This is also a no onion, no garlic recipe. It can be made with chhole (chickpeas), chana dal (gram dal), urad dal (black gram dal).

Gandhimathi V. tells me that Golu is the time for women to dress up in their finest Kanjeevaram silks. Earlier she did not keep it in her house because it was set up in her in-laws’ house till they were alive. Yet she always made it a point to visit other houses to sing devotional songs for this is the time for God and for pious thoughts. This year, however, she and her husband decided to put up the display in their own house too. Although I was lucky to get a picture, she still has to decorate it with lights and flowers, she tells me.

To some extent, Golu reminds me of Janamashtami, the day Lord Krishna was born. Children make elaborate tableaus with baby Krishna in a crib. The creative ones may also put up a male figure (Vasudev) crossing a river. He carries a basket on his head with the newborn Krishna in it. That may also remind you of the beautiful nativity scenes recreated during Christmas to depict the birth of Lord Jesus.

Major temples also put up elaborate Golus as is evident from the pictures below.

Golu with 3000 dolls at the Vadapalani Murugun Temple, Chennai (2019) 

17-step Golu at NatrajaTemple, Chidambaram (2017) 

Alas, forced by their demanding work schedules, newer generations are finding it hard to follow such traditions which need effort and time. On top of that the pandemic has hit the doll-makers’ business hard as the demand is showing a painful downtrend. Earlier they would start making the dolls a year in advance, even send them to buyers abroad, but the pandemic and the lockdown have hit their sales hard.

For detailed report please see

https://www.newindianexpress.com/topic/golu

A 2016 report https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/%E2%80%98Bommala-Koluvu%E2%80%99-a-fading-tradition/article15474105.ece says:

The keen interest and fervour to set up the arrangement has seen a decline of late due to a variety of reasons like emergence of nuclear families, employed parents, hostel-dwelling children and the general apathy towards fine arts.

The changed scenario has cast a shadow on the creativity and social relationship skills of the children, who unfortunately derive entertainment only from the virtual world. “They wield 'Wi-Fi connected' devices, but seldom stay connected to society”, remarks counselling psychologist N.B. Sudhakar Reddy of Tirupati. The art of arranging idols teaches them home management, sowing oil seeds for the children's park engages them with nature, while they learn socialising from the visiting guests.

“Unfortunately, these days festivals have become all about lavish dinner and staying glued to the television sets during week-long vacations.

As a result, the idol makers are opting out of their profession for livelihood.

Earlier this week, the world celebrated International Craft Day on the 15^th of October but sadly enough, traditional crafts are losing their relevance the world over. Heartbreaking, isn’t it?

But honestly, how many of us would pick up a painted wooden toy for our child to play and fire his imagination with, over the latest hand-held video game or TV remote which keeps his eyes, ears and mind glued?

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