How is the Navratri tradition of Golu celebrated by South Indians?

The dolls comprise a multitude of gods, goddesses, animals, men, and children on a step-like set-up. Notably, characters from Ramayana, Puranas, and Dashavataram are depicted. Golu also depicts particular themes like environment, space, mythology, current affairs, and more. “The Golu tradition doesn’t just display dolls; it brings forth an artistic symphony, creating unique and creative perspectives with themes that vary from epic sagas to rural life and contemporary interpretations,” said Ruchita Bansal, founder and creative director, Izzhaar.

Golu set up by one of the residents in Pune (Source: Godai)

“We have been celebrating Golu since my childhood, so for around 25 years, I have been seeing my mom keeping it and now I have carried the same after marriage. At least we celebrate simply. This time due to my work schedule we are keeping it very simple,” shared Aishwarya D, 28, a civil engineer and a popular food content creator on Instagram whose page Foodies Roof has 401k followers.

According to Aishwarya, all these are the requirements of humankind. “So we celebrate 3 days/nights for each Devi,” said Aishwarya.

Intriguingly, the Golu tradition’s roots trace back to ancient times, deriving its name from the Tamil word “Ko Lu,” signifying a display or exhibition. “It mirrors the practices of kings presenting themselves in temple mandapams during festivals. As the dolls (made of sustainable substances like clay, husk, and recycled papers) are beautifully arranged to resemble a temple gateway, the Golu tradition carries profound architectural parallels to South Indian temples, capturing the essence of the region’s history and traditions,” noted Bansal. 

Golu represents beauty or divine presence in Tamil. “Golu as we all know celebrates good over evil. Golu is kept in a way to represents three stages of life. First is basic survival, next is growth, and finally is sublimity,” shared Aishwarya, adding that survival represents Durga Devi, growth represents Lakshmi, and finally sublimity is Saraswati.

Interestingly, in Telugu, Bommala Koluvu means ‘court of toys’, and in Kannada, Bombe Habba means ‘doll festival’.

Golu guests include women from the neighbourhood (Source: Jayashree Narayanan)

The Golu steps are usually nine, representing each day. But based on convenience, one can keep it 3, 5,7,9, 11. However, only in odd numbers. “So the first three from the bottom represent survival where we keep agriculture sculptures, vegetables sculptures, etc; the next 3 are men, women dolls, marriage dolls, business dolls, houses, etc, and the top 3 are divine dolls like all gods and sculptures.

The steps are covered with decorative cloths and the dolls are placed on them.

“And most importantly, there will be ‘marapachi bommai’ which is made of wood/sandalwood. Every family has their version. It is believed to be the incarnation of Shiva and Parvathi. Pooja is done daily. Even if you don’t keep Golu, we keep ‘marapachi’ alone and perform Pooja for it during this time,” said Aishwarya, who has this time also kept only ‘marapachi bommai’ due to paucity of time.

Aishwarya D’s simple Golu at home (Source: Aishwarya D)

The pooja place is also adorned with a ‘kalasam’ or pitcher pot. It is a vessel with water and cardamom. Coconut is placed over with mango leaf all around as a marker of good fortune.

Calling Navratri one of her favorite festivals with memories to cherish, 64-year-old Sujatha Krishnamurthy, a community outreach program coordinator for Indo American Cultural Center and Temple), United States, said that for her, the festival is a fusion of spiritual and social aspects all rolled into one. “A few weeks before the festival, I make a list of names of friends, my Bal Vikas students, and their parents on an Excel sheet. A personal call of invitation follows and so does the database updates. Then the fun part of shopping for personalised goodie bag items begins,” said an excited Sujatha, for whom it takes about four hours to arrange the Golu at her place.

“Over the years, my Golu wooden stand has transformed from a three to a five-step assembled by my husband to a seven-step custom made by a craftsman. My global collectibles consist of handicraft items like handmade sandalwood elephants, Dasavatara dolls, wedding scene dolls from India, Russian Babushkas, trolls, and natural rocks from the USA to name a few. Evenings are filled with devotional music, dance and chants on one hand and sumptuous food and get together on the other,” shared Sujatha who has kept the tradition alive even after moving to the United States in 1984.

Sujatha Krishnamurthy’s Golu from last year (Source: Sujatha Krishnamurthy)

Colourful kolams, also called rangolis are drawn, lamps are lit and aarti is performed along with shloka recitations. One of the prominent highlights of the nine evenings is the different types of sundals or boiled legumes. There are also offerings of delectable sweets and fruits every day.

“Evening sundals like uppu (salted) sundal and sweet sundal are made more while the morning prasad comprises venn pongal, sweet pongal, variety rice like coconut rice, puliyodharai or tamarind rice,” shared Aishwarya.

Golu set up at A Vishwanathan Sastrigal’s home in Pune’s Rastapeth by his wife Jaya (Source: A Vishwanathan)

Golu guests, married women, and children, especially little girls, mostly drop in the evenings to each home in a Golu hopping spree. They are requested to sing devotional songs. They are then honoured by betel leaves, fruits, coconut, bangles, turmeric, kumkum, and gifts too.

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