During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport. That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’t ju
The third day of navaratri coincided with Id, giving us an extra holiday. Samhith’s exams starting on Tuesday meant that we were expected to use the holiday to catch up on studies, but we threw everything to the wind and spent the day at Thane, visiting my mom and Shankar’s aunt. Both keep beautiful golus and are extremely enthusiastic about the arrangements. Here are a few photos…..
First, at my mom’s place, here is the main golu…..
Look at the variety of marapachis on display!
This is the newest addition to their kolu- a band playing music!!!
Here are some more toys kept near the steps due to lack of space on the steps themselves….
The Krishna is beautiful, isn’t he? The Panduranga and Rakumai in front are also marapachis dressed up!
This year, they decided to have a theme based Kolu, and decided on Games, to begin with. Instead of using up the floor like I did, they have used the dining table for the other games – ancient Indian games….. there are too many of them to explain, so if you are actually interested in learning about these games and how to play them, I would refer you to the site Traditional Board Games of India which has done a great job trying to restore interest in ancient Indian board games.Here are a few of those on display....
Here is the part with the outdoor games – cricket, of course, takes pride of place,….
And here are a couple of others – gilli danda, pittu and marbles…
Finally, here is the decoration they have come up with this year……Plaits! Yes, all those are different kinds of plaits….. False hair plaited in various ways….. This again is an age-old technique fast fading into oblivion!
Moving on to Shankar’s aunt’s place, here is her Kolu, full of old and beautiful dolls. Personally, I would much prefer the old dolls to the newer ones. They are much more beautiful and detailed, unlike today’s mass produced ones, which barely resemble the gods/goddesses/scenes they are supposed to represent.
Take a closer look at some of the dolls, and you will see the work that has gone into each one of them, though they are now old and their colours are fading!
A Wedding in progress....
Last, but not the least, the decoration at the temple was that of Lakshmi – Hayagriva. Hayagriva was the horse-faced form taken by Lord Vishnu to recover the Vedas from the demon of the same name and form who had stolen them. Hayagriva is said to be the lord of learning and knowledge, an equivalent to Saraswati, so to speak.
There were just too many photos to put on this blog, so here is a slideshow of all of them...
First, at my mom’s place, here is the main golu…..
Look at the variety of marapachis on display!
This is the newest addition to their kolu- a band playing music!!!
Here are some more toys kept near the steps due to lack of space on the steps themselves….
The Krishna is beautiful, isn’t he? The Panduranga and Rakumai in front are also marapachis dressed up!
Here is the part with the outdoor games – cricket, of course, takes pride of place,….
And here are a couple of others – gilli danda, pittu and marbles…
Finally, here is the decoration they have come up with this year……Plaits! Yes, all those are different kinds of plaits….. False hair plaited in various ways….. This again is an age-old technique fast fading into oblivion!
Moving on to Shankar’s aunt’s place, here is her Kolu, full of old and beautiful dolls. Personally, I would much prefer the old dolls to the newer ones. They are much more beautiful and detailed, unlike today’s mass produced ones, which barely resemble the gods/goddesses/scenes they are supposed to represent.
Take a closer look at some of the dolls, and you will see the work that has gone into each one of them, though they are now old and their colours are fading!
A Wedding in progress....
The rotund Chettiar with his wares.....
A vegetable seller...
Shiva and Parvati with Ganesha ans Kartikeya..
All faiths are one..... icons of all religions... from Christ to the Paramacharya, Adi Shankara to Sai Baba, and even one of Sathya Sai Baba.... This was my favourite part of this kolu...
Last, but not the least, the decoration at the temple was that of Lakshmi – Hayagriva. Hayagriva was the horse-faced form taken by Lord Vishnu to recover the Vedas from the demon of the same name and form who had stolen them. Hayagriva is said to be the lord of learning and knowledge, an equivalent to Saraswati, so to speak.
There were just too many photos to put on this blog, so here is a slideshow of all of them...
This is amazing! We've never come across such detailed golus.
ReplyDelete:-)
Bindhu & Unny
Hi nice post. I am glad that you visited our blog http://kreedaakaushalya.blogspot.com and used the ideas from it to make your golu different this time. Thanks for also giving the link to our blog.
ReplyDeleteWe also have a blog on dolls http://bombemane.blogspot.com this blog deals with our annual exhibition of dolls which we conduct every dasara. We are currently in the thick of the exhibition. Do visit this blog as well and leave your valuable comments. Thank you.
Excellent:)
ReplyDeleteBindu and Unny.. Thanks a lot! I just love these dolls, and since last year have started looking out for more of them to capture on camera !!!
ReplyDeleteRaghu : THanks... your blog is great... do post more pictures...
Chitra; THanks a lot!
hey,
ReplyDeleteYour photography is just awesome.
Actually I also have that hobby. But there is no time.
Wow.. amazing post.
ReplyDeleteAnu, I lived in India for a very long time but was not very familiar with this tradition. I think It was last year when I saw pictures of Gulu on Laxmi’s blog!
Once again very well written/thought out post!
You have been tagged!
ReplyDeleteFollow the link for more instructions!
http://healaz.blogspot.com/2009/09/about-lost-earrings-and-peacocks_22.html
Programming Language FAQ : thanks a lot,,..try to indulge in your hobby at least when you take a break or are on vacation,, all of us need an interest in life...
ReplyDeleteSujata :: thanks a lot..... good that you are seeing so many kolus on the net now :-))
thanks for the tag too.. shall respond asap...
Programming Language FAQ : thanks a lot,,..try to indulge in your hobby at least when you take a break or are on vacation,, all of us need an interest in life...
ReplyDeleteSujata :: thanks a lot..... good that you are seeing so many kolus on the net now :-))
thanks for the tag too.. shall respond asap...
Just looking at all the lovely dolls and arrangements makes me wish i could come n visit them....
ReplyDeleteKeeep posting Anu!!!
btw,loved the idea of old game boards... and also the slideshow at the end with pics.. so sweet!!
ReplyDeleteAnu- u sure have loads of patience.. here's more to that!!:)
Great pictures of the different kinds of Golus! Fun to watch...!
ReplyDeleteThats a lovely set of pictures and writeup, Yes I do love the old dolls better than the new ones, the details are fantastic. I loved the shiva and parvati doll, quite unique. I like the idea of china chettiyar in comfortable sofa ;)
ReplyDeleteThe kalyana set bommai s were adorable :)
Thats very interesting to have games displayed and false hair decoration! so creative and interesting.
And the Slide show idea was good, I shd follow the same i think
ReplyDeleteHi, anu, the golu was really nice. More so ur explanation for each doll. and lastly the slide show was excellant . Raghu, Delhi
ReplyDeleteSo many pairs of Marapachis....
ReplyDelete