The golu or bomma golu
(court of dolls) is an integral part of the navrathri celebrations in a
lot of south indian homes. There are numerous dolls depicting scenes
from Indian mythology or everyday life arranged in different steps.
Friends and neighbors are invited to look at the display and served
delicious food and the stories are discussed with a lot of gusto.
How the golu came about to be displayed is also interesting.
During the time of Krishnadevaraya, there was a lot of de-silting of rivers going on and dams being constructed. The king wanted to revive pottery in his kingdom and asked the potters to make dolls from the clay available. The dolls represented a lot of things - gods, incidents from mythology, everyday life in the kingdom etc. The subjects then displayed the dolls in their houses - which the king and queen visited later. The dolls were arranged in multiple steps.
The first step had the kalash - a pot filled with rice and grains, covered with a coconut and mango leaves to symbolise prosperity and to hope for that prosperity to sustain through the next year. The wooden carvings of the king and queen, (marapachi bommai) were placed there. The next step had dolls of the numerous gods and demigods and the third depicted scenes from everyday life. The number of steps varied from 3 to as much as 11 depending on the prosperity of the subject. The golu tradition was revived by the Mysore Wodeyars and the devis statue is taken out in procession by the majestic elephants each year.
I love the golu dolls for they make it so easy for me to narrate the stories i grew up with and it serves as a constant reminder of my rich and lovely culture which is filled with powerful myths and lessons for life. I will spend some time writing about my dolls in the posts to come.
How the golu came about to be displayed is also interesting.
During the time of Krishnadevaraya, there was a lot of de-silting of rivers going on and dams being constructed. The king wanted to revive pottery in his kingdom and asked the potters to make dolls from the clay available. The dolls represented a lot of things - gods, incidents from mythology, everyday life in the kingdom etc. The subjects then displayed the dolls in their houses - which the king and queen visited later. The dolls were arranged in multiple steps.
The first step had the kalash - a pot filled with rice and grains, covered with a coconut and mango leaves to symbolise prosperity and to hope for that prosperity to sustain through the next year. The wooden carvings of the king and queen, (marapachi bommai) were placed there. The next step had dolls of the numerous gods and demigods and the third depicted scenes from everyday life. The number of steps varied from 3 to as much as 11 depending on the prosperity of the subject. The golu tradition was revived by the Mysore Wodeyars and the devis statue is taken out in procession by the majestic elephants each year.
I love the golu dolls for they make it so easy for me to narrate the stories i grew up with and it serves as a constant reminder of my rich and lovely culture which is filled with powerful myths and lessons for life. I will spend some time writing about my dolls in the posts to come.
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