Golu Festivities Around Town

Below are few experiences of our readers about their Golu celebrations.

Rahitha Ram

KATY: Kolu or Golu in Tamil means Divine Presence. It’s an artistic display of dolls during the Navrathri feastival. Kolu is adorned with dolls – predominantly with that of the gods and goddesses depicting mythology. The dolls( mostly wooden but can also be made of plastic, metals these days) are placed on odd numbered steps made of wood/metal. The underlying belief in arranging these Navratri dolls on the tier is to depict that Goddess Durga or Mahishasuramardini is sitting in her Golu, prior to the slaying of the demon Mahishasura. When people come to a person’s house to see the Kolu, usually they are given prasad (the offering given to God that day), kumkum and a small bag of gifts. These are only given to girls and married women.

“Golu for me is that time of the year when you set up the house with beautiful dolls, decorate them with varied colors. As a growing up girl, Golu was a big deal in my house, decorating the steps, placing the dolls, eating sundal, hopping houses, singing for them, dressed in pavadais, was all part of a spiritual and social experience.

Celebrating festivals, I believe is a major part of accessing your roots. Here is my Golu (picture above), trying to recreate those times and starting our own traditions to create our own memories. Happy Navarathri to you!

Radha Stan

SUGAR LAND: Navrathri Golu, a religious fervor celebrates the path of victory of good over evil, the right over the wrong. For me this festival brings out the creativity of all members of the family by show casing it in their Golu step up. It always provided me an extraordinary visual experience viewing golu taking different forms in different houses and temples. I have always loved to partake in the visits in my grand saris to take sandal paste and kumkum and be honored by being given coconut, fruits, sweets, small mirror, kumkum, turmeric, comb, beetle leaves with supari. That takes me back to childhood and the excitement of going to houses to see the golu wearing colorful dresses and fancy bangles. May this festive season bring lots of joy to everyones family, Happy Navrathri!

Archana Sharma

HOUSTON: Golu is an exhibition of dolls that is typically seen in the homes of South Indian families during Navaratri festival. If I ask my grandmother what is the significance of golu, she would say in Tamil, “Sakshath paramathma ve namma veetku vandutar” i.e. divine goddess has arrived to our home through the display of dolls. That is essentially what I have grown up believing in.  Thinking about golu reminds me of my childhood days — of dressing up in pattu pavadai (silk dress) and visiting friends and relatives every day and enjoying a variety of delicious sundal (lentils salad), singing/dancing etc…

Golu to me is nine days  of pure fun with family and friends. I enjoy every aspect – the creativity in setting up the golu, cooking delicacies every day, dressing up in Indian fineries, enjoying garba/dandia, and having friends over at home for the celebration. I am lucky to have a supportive family with parents who willingly bring new dolls every year to add to my collection and my husband who helps me set it up every year, and even built custom-wooden five-step system just for this purpose.

No doubt, it is the busiest week for us, with multiple dinner events and social gatherings, however it is also the most memorable week.