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Golu, a confluence of worldly desire, art and wisdom
The very word Golu conjured up beautiful images of colourful and vibrantly decorated dolls in aesthetic, vegetable hues, hand created in mud and pottery, cloth covered steps of either 3,7 or 9 in number (as household budgets allowed), beautifully arranged with these traditional figures of gods, goddesses, ordinary people as well as wild and domestic animals.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Colourful kolams drawn every day on the floor, with fresh flowers being added is another memory. Until the 1980s, most people lived in large, joint families. The golu would be displayed in a common hall. Preparations would begin days in advance.
Most people considered themselves fortunate if invitations to attend the golu came from any of the prominent houses in Mylapore. Musicians, dancers, actors, leading legal luminaries lived in Mylapore. In their houses one would come across dolls bought from Chinese men before World War II, who used to sell high quality China pottery to these households. One also came across wooden figurines and other bric-a-bric from Mynamar and Sri Lanka. The best and most reputed dolls, however came from Panrutti.
The “Gowri bommais” made of wood from somewhere near Bangalore, with rotating arms and legs with ball and socket joints(!) which could be positioned in any angle, and the bare doll skeletons that could become male or female figures and dressed in silken miniature dresses was another highlight. With these bare skeletons, golu was really a challenge to narrate stories, through clever and intelligent display. I remember one house where we saw these dressed up to represent entire scenes from Ramayana- a huge narrative, in 12 panels! Most traditional homes had hand crafted scenes- of temple festivals, fairs or amusement parks, with real foliage, created by sprouted mustard plants which would over grow and start to stoop by the fifth day.
Decades ago, I was at the golu in a movie moghul’s house. It had fantastic cinematic live attractions, waterfalls with real water, trains shooting out of tunnels and we spent hours marvelling at the creativity. Of the huge nine step presentations- the top steps were reserved for the most powerful main deities — the godesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathy.The middle ones showed a variety of mythological stories – dasa vatarams, pastoral scenes of Krishna playing with Gopis, manifestations of Shiva, Vishnu and myriad scenes from the Mahabharatha or Ramayana. The last three steps were given over to realistically created scenes of temples, tanks, parks. By the 90s, zoos, thematic displays showing off the artistic talent of the men and women in the households began to dominate. The latter also drew the lively participation of the children.
Golu has always been women’s special time. The only time the boys gave up cricket and tagged along to eat the sundals or gape at the pretty girls was during golu. It was also a meeting point for youngsters who were smitten with each other, but did not have the convenience of a coffee shop to meet or the privacy of a mobile phone chat.
Religious and symbolic meaning:
- Navarathri is a period of festivity observed during the month of Purattasi . It celebrates the goddess symbolising every possible kind of energy. Devi worship is a fascinating realm — involving yantras and chakras, symbolising the concentration of energy- with Sri or the Bindu as centre of power.
- The most exciting links to these concepts can be found in our own Carnatic classical music- the Nava avarna kritis immortalised by Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar- who created the nine gems for each night, plus one dhyana kriti and one mangala kriti.
- The nine nights of Navarathri can be divided into 3+3+3, with the first three for Durga or Parvathi- the goddess of passion and desire- so first three steps show worldly attractions. What is life if not filled with desire?
- The next three nights, represented by the next three steps, celebrate the goddess of wealth Lakshmi. What is desire if not realised and how can one do so without wealth or the means?
- The final three nights and steps may be for the more sublime and lofty levels of wisdom, art and non- material frames of mind- represented by Saraswathy, the Goddess of learning and arts. While Durga puja is predominent in other parts of the country, in Tamil Nadu, we celebrate the ninth day with Saraswathy puja- which has come to denote offerings of books, manuscripts, tools of the trade in each household- being kept in worship- to be blessed by the Goddess.
Why Vijaya dasami?
The story goes (and please note there are always any number of versions) that when the Pandava princes and Draupadi were banished to the forests for 13 years, it was stipulated that the last year be observed in hiding- incognito. During this time, Arjuna was a transgender dance teacher called Brihannala in the court of King Virata, who had extended his hospitality to all of them without knowing who they were. Suddenly the kingdom was attacked by the Kouravas and Arjuna was forced to retrieve his arms- hidden in the Vanni tree. This happend to be the dasami day. He got them during the twilight hour also called “Vijaya”. He was also victorious.
Cultural take and today’s practice:
Navarathri or Golu has become both fashionable and depressing. The beautiful, traditional hand made dolls are all gone, along with the traditional artisans. The ones stacked up in the old parts of temple streets are all either bland, moulded ones with garish purple eye shadows , lipstick and painted faces with extremely bright chemical colours that blind the eye or monstrosities in plastic and rubber.
Many homes which used to be joint family units are now small single units, with no elders to tell the children stories, or involve them in the making and creation of the golu. Many homes have switched to minimal ground representations (some display on three steps instead of nine), have given over to thematic elaborate displays with text put up to accompany each panel. Handmade crafts, wherever displayed, are a welcome relief.
Golu competitions and prizes for best themes- with local media firing up the enthusiasm are the new marketing strategies. Girls and boys do not need a golu to meet or show off their talents or make friends! Traditional snacks like home made payasams and sundal- (yummy varieties of soaked pulses , boiled & garnished with grated coconut , mango pieces or ginger bits) are replaced with quick off- the-counter snacks , packed in plastic mini bags. Still- in many a home, come Golu, its time to take out the big store boxes with the carefully packed dolls, set up the steps, (ready made ones or ingeniously stacked cartons, benches or stools,covered with cloth), issue telephonic or sms invites to friends and family- some of who groan and moan to come all the way in city traffic on the appointed day! Are traditions worth saving? Many of us think so.
The writer is connected to a Chennai based NGO, specialising in Behaviour Change Communications.
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