Skip to main content

Featured Post

2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Navaratri 2010 - Day 8 - The Best Golu I have seen so far!

This certainly has to be the best Golu I have seen so far this year... It has been kept at the house of a friend of Shankar's uncle, and it takes the prize for creativity as well as hard, hard work!

First, let us get the usual steps out of the way...... Here they are, with the usual dolls...


Yes, I know we have seen enough dolls over the last week, but these are the only ones here which need to be highlighted - some representations of famous personalities as well as tribals...


Now for the most interesting thing...

Heres a first look.... Can you guess what all is there? and how it is arranged?


Before I get to the individual pieces, let me tell you what this is - The Golu is a two tier one, the upper one representing an American town, and the lower one, an Indian village.. talk about contrasts!!!

The person who makes all this retired from his government job quite a few years ago. This is his hobby, something he spends more than half the year on! To see his attention to detail, and his immense talent, look at the intricate details in these pics. I wish I could upload the pics in their original size, but alas, my google account is full, and there is just no more place for pics... Hence, these are all embedded from my Picasa albums.....

Now, lets go, take a closer look....

Let's start with the most interesting thing here.... A McDonalds!!! If you look closer, you can see the serving counters inside!


See the play area next door?


Doesnt it make you want to get right in?

Look at these apartments....


This one is the same, with the lights on...


Heres a shopping centre...


A house...


Another house...


And a petrol pump...


Now lets move below the table, to the Indian village...

Here are the fields... with farmers harvesting the crops.


Heres a marriage procession, a temple, and a pond....


A bullock cart carrying hay, completely hand made!


And the different types of houses....




These trees have also been made, not bought! Did you see those trees near the houses in the pictures above? Those have also been made!


Here is the creator, with his creations....


And finally, here is a video of the whole arrangement...


By now, some of you may be wondering why I have just mentioned this as the 'Best Golu I have seen so far', and not 'Best golu I have EVER seen!'.... Have any of you wondered?????????

Well, there happens to be the answer to this too.... I have seen some Golus made by him earlier... That was before I began blogging, so no wonder you didnt get to see them! And each one has been as good, if not better! He keeps most of his creations intact, at least the important ones, and also has video recordings of each golu, so I have been able to see his earlier ones too.. the ones I missed!

Here are some such earlier creations, showcased all over his house....



This one is my favourite! One which he made years ago, before I was fortunate enough to see his work.....Can you guess what it is?


It happens to be a replica of a railway station, modelled on the one at Dadar... Look at the kind of details he has incorporated... all the pics below are from the same set...



I have not mentioned any names here, because I did not ask permission, but he is quite well known in his locality, for his creations appear regularly in the local papers... After all, how can anyone not appreciate such hard work and dedication???

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Comments

  1. This is brilliant stuff! Such an eye for detail.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This guy is really something. So beautiful and finest miniature designs. Creativity par excellence. God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So much patience and creativity is involved in this work..amazing..Hats off to this amazing person

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gosh! I am speechless..... amazing!
    As for your suggestion on my previous comment to upload pics of my golu, well, I couldnt manage to come up with anything different this year. And in front of creative people like you, I feel my Golu is nothing :)
    So, maybe next year :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful golu... its the best i have ever seen... so artistic and such great thoughts and patience..... hats off to them.... i just wish i was there in that place...  what an art..... just amazing...... am speechless.... so much detailing i have never seen before... thanks for sharing ..... 

    Lalitha

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful creations!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! This is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful work with all of us.   He is definitely inspiring!

    This is my first time here, came from art navy's blog. 

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks  Shankari! It was certainly the best one I had ever seen! and welcome here.... 

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is really awe inspiring work, the details are fantastic and fabulous. It is definitely a wonderful art creation and it shows his dedication towards making things perfect. That said and done, and with no offense to these beautiful creations, this need not be said as a Golu as a Golu, the importance of it, the culture behind it is different and it is not about showcasing things as done here is my humble thought. But, kudos to the gentlemen who created this with such details. Take Care. Thanks. (Specifically posted as Anonymous - not out of fear of rebuttal - but in general if it is anonymous it could be omitted in total - if felt like taking in the point still it could be taken magnanimously - Thanks.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment, Anonymous. the whole idea of comments is to invite different opinions. well, in one way, u are right.. the idea of a golu is to celebrate creation.. not to display ones perfection.. but then the whole idea of setting up a golu is to include the whole family in something which is basically a festival celebrating life and fertility.. this is the only way men and kids were allowed into the celebrations,, for eg. if i didnt keep a golu, my son would be least interested in the festival.. and as he grows, i can see how he keeps thinking of ideas to make it better... so this is just a way to enjoy the whole idea of the festival.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please leave a comment for me so that I will know you have been here....

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

Rama Temple, Gokarna

To my right , the waves rush to the shore, eager to merge with the sand. To my left, the same waves crash against the rocks, their spray diverting my reverie as I ponder over the beauty of nature, and wonder what first brought people here. Was it this beauty that encouraged them to build a temple here, or was it the fresh, sweet spring water flowing from the hill here that made this place special? No matter what the reason, I am glad my auto driver brought me here. We are at the Rama temple in Gokarna, just a few minutes away from the Mahabaleshwara Temple, yet offering so different a perspective.

Pandharpur Yatra 2023

The first time I visited Pandharpur was back in 2007 . The names Vitthal and Pandharpur, were just names to me. I had heard of them, but that was about it. Seeing the lord standing on the brick, hands on his hips, was memorable, but more memorable was the sight that greeted us as we walked out of the main sanctum of the temple. In the mandap just outside were a group of devotees singing abhangs , and dancing. This was the first time I had heard abhangs , and even almost 15 years later, I can remember the welling of feeling within me, listening to the songs, and how fascinated I was by the sight of the devotees dancing, lost in their love of the Lord. Over the years, as I have read more about Vitthal, and participated in Ashadi Ekadashi programmes at Puttaparthi, that first experience has stayed clear in my mind and heart. Every time I tell my Balvikas students of the saints who sang of Vitthala, it is that experience that I re-live. I visited Pandharpur again, in 2010, but that experie