GOLU DOLLS – THE SPLENDOURS OF NAVRATRI

Stepping into a typical household of South India during navratri, there would be Carnatic music or chanting of shlokas/keerthanas (sacred verses) turned up to decibels echoing through the home and ringing in your heads. As you walk in further, you would find women and more women. Because, this is the time of the year the ladies steal the spotlight. With the shiny kanjeevaram’s making appearance, homes being adorned with dolls, the stories told along with the texts from the Holy Scriptures and the gifts being shared, and the women folk rejoice celebrating Bommai golu (or kolu). Yes, Golu is one of the most important parts of Navratri down south. An ideal time of the year to let that creativity of yours flow into streams. An occasion for the family to come together to jolt down their ideas to make the best court of toys in the neighbourhood. Golu is also known by the names of bomma koluvu, gombe habba or gombe totti.

Let’s get to know more about GOLU!




So, interested to know what golu is?

Remember those childhood days when you used to narrate stories to your fellow friends with your dolls. This is an occasion to let that little child within you to explore but this time you are availed with a lot of dolls.

Golu is an eco-friendly, decorative ritual of navratri where the dolls and figurines are displayed in padis (steps) depicting thematic stories to invoke the divine presence into our home. The themes are usually from famous mythological contexts, everyday events, processions, weddings, temples, practically any story that you can spun. This is the time to revisit those timeless, old stories that our grandparents narrated to us. In olden days, golu was celebrated to prevent the de-silting of irrigation canals. Golu has significant connection with the agricultural and handicrafts profession. This festival is a means of teaching traditions to the young people and involves them in the spiritual endeavor.


Amidst all the 9 to 5 noise, a moment to realize the meaning of a thoughtful verse from an epic or spend time with the family setting up the dolls is undoubtedly the melody we all need to listen to. It is mostly confined to households, societies and temple. Golu dolls are a part of every south Indian family’s heirloom. These gorgeous dolls are kept for the display right from the first day. They wake up after sleeping for a whole year to give a new life to their story once again. They appear every year for these special nine days and retire to their storage boxes, remembering not to forget their own stories. Japan also holds a similar tradition of displaying dolls to celebrate girl’s day known as Hinamatsuri.


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