It is perhaps only possible in India to see one festival being celebrated with varying customs and traditions in different States. They have different names too at times.
Navratri is one of them. While fasting, dancing and singing bhajans, worshipping small girls, puja pandals, dandiya, garba are highlights of this nine-day celebrations in the North, Navratri Kolu or Bomma Golu or Bombe Habba is a major aspect to the festival down South.
The doors of Vallabha Swedaranyam's house in R.T. Nagar are open for her neighbours to walk in any time of the day. Some hundred dolls of different sizes and materials occupy her living room decorated with lights, plants, flowers and toys. At the entrance are the three goddesses, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati dressed in all their finery. And they have been quite extraordinarily crafted. Swedaranyam has placed the heads of the goddesses over a kuthuvilakku (lamp) and draped them in her beautiful saris. “I like to do things with my hands,” she says pointing at yet another creation -- the steel plates embellished with various designs.
While son Srinivasa Raman helps her with display, husband contributes with his knowledge of legends from scriptures.
Raman remembers growing up seeing his house decked up with dolls one Navratri after another. It has now become a passion for him as well.
Every year the family takes up a theme and this year it is environment. “The golus are divides into two parts - spiritual and rural. While the spiritual part depicts gods and goddesses, in the rural part, I have tried to show the shrinking forest space. A lot of neighbours and relatives visit our house to see golus. It is a good platform to share such concerns,” says Raman. A village with paddy fields, harvest being cultivated, village temple, kids playing cricket has been depicted. “If you notice the forest area is very small compared to others and the animals are just on the border of the village implying our encroachments into their space. There are vehicles, kids play area, markets but very little space is green,” explains Raman.
In the spiritual section stories of Mount Kailash, Kartikeya’s birth, worshipping of Griha Lakshmi, a marriage procession, and a Rajrajeshwari doll in the mantap are other parts of the golu decoration in the house.
For golu padi, the most integral part of the decoration, Raman and his mother have done five steps. Depending on the availability of space, people do 3,5,7,9 or 11 steps. Again different gods and their various incarnations occupy the padi with Krishna flanked by Bhama and Rukmini as main dolls. The family has tried to recreate Vrindavan by depicting episodes of his life like lifting of Govardhan, Kaaliya Naag, his moments with gopis and Radha etc.
Preparations start two weeks before Navratri and the decoration begins on September 30. “Last year, we had done a painting on thermocol. The year before that it was a cave with all the golus placed inside it.” This year artificial plants emphasise the theme of environment. And what about the dolls and toys? “Every year, you have to buy one new doll so Griha Lakshmi and Mount Kailash are the new ones while most of the others have been repeated. We buy whenever and wherever we come across something nice. The idea is to make it as beautiful as we can,” says Raman.
