Skip to main content

Featured Post

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
1 comment

And here is the first Golu this year....

And so it begins.... our tour of the Golus for this year... beginning with the one at my mom's place in Thane. It is much simpler than in the past years, but nevertheless just as creative. Here is what the Golu looks like...




Let's take a closer look at the steps....beginning with the top one...

Right at the top are the goddesses... women power!

The 4th step has the kalasam, accompanied by the Marapachis 
and the 3rd step has Lord Venkateswara and Padmavati in the centre, with Rama, Lakshmana and Sita on the left and Vitthala - Rakumai on the right. In front are the Ashta Lakshmis

The second step has Shiva and Parvati on Kailas, behind them is Karthikeya with Valli and Devayani, next is Ganesha, then a beautiful Dakshinamurthy on the right are assorted dolls of Krishna. The first step jas a wedding set and also a pair of Chettiar Bommais with their wares laid out..

There was no specific theme this year, but the set up revolved around the beautifully done creative art work of my aunt. You can catch glimpses of her work all over..... 

Such as these beautifully decorated Swastikas

The decorated clay plate in the centre and the rangoli on plastic (re--usable)  surrounding it

And this of course, is my favourite!!
The central one is designed by me, created by my aunt... a collaborative project :D 

Look  at these miniature animals sitting prettily on another plastic rangoli

And these adorable miniature musical instruments, sitting on another one
The marapachis remain my all time favourites.......



And here is something new...... On the side, are these decorations, with beautiful new brass vessels... 



What variety and what incredible detail!!



And as if those weren't enough, here are some more!!!



In case you are wondering, these are also miniatures... the one behind is what we call a 'muram' and in front is the cutter we use instead of knives.
And now for the transport section.....


Hitching a ride?

Waiting for the train???
For those of you who have been asking me, my mom lives in Thane. If you live nearby and want to drop in for a closer look, please feel free to send me a mail or drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter, and I will send you their address. They will be happy to see you! 

Meanwhile, come back tomorrow. Hopefully I will have another interesting one to show you! 

Labels:
Location: Thane, Maharashtra, India

Comments

  1. Ranjana's craft blogOctober 7, 2013 at 11:21 AM

    So lively. Very cute. I love this festival and arrangement of dolls(we call it as Gombe Habba in KannadaI. I loved the musical instruments and brass utensils. You have arranged them artistically.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 7, 2013 at 1:30 PM

      Thanks, Ranjana, on behalf of my mom, aunt and sister, who set this up!

      Delete
  2. LocomenteOctober 7, 2013 at 11:59 AM

    I loved your bommakolu...
    Wish that technology is advanced enough to share bakshanam also...

    Between...
    I loved those rangoli in plastic.,..
    I would love to read a post that details about how it can be done...
    Not the procedures... But at least the materials used...
    Just curious to know...

    A handshake on my behalf to your aunt...
    And I loved your design...
    Looks grand!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 7, 2013 at 1:32 PM

      THanks so much, Satya, The rangolis are simply beads and plastic decorative jewels stuck onto plastic sheets cut in patterns. will try to share how they are made.

      Delete
  3. Meghana HassanOctober 7, 2013 at 1:05 PM

    Wow beautiful. Amazing collection of brass vessels. Now I can't wait from dropping in, to your mom's place...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 7, 2013 at 1:34 PM

      Thanks Meghana. Sorry I wasnt able to visit your place, but it was a quick visit. Do drop in anytime. Have told my mom u will come :D

      Delete
  4. AnonymousOctober 7, 2013 at 2:32 PM

    Wow Anu, I wish I could go to Thane...Will wait for your Golu next year...:)

    Sonal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 8, 2013 at 8:19 AM

      If you are free, Sonal, wouldnt mind taking you along! and hope next time all goes well, and we are able to keep the golu!

      Delete
  5. AtulaOctober 7, 2013 at 6:12 PM

    Anu, first, all this looks fantastic. I loved the miniature musical instruments and the utensils a lot. Also the complete set up. The rangolis too. (Yes, you can pat yourself on the back for the one you did. :-) ) But please tell me, I am totally ignorant here, what is a golu? A festival, or something you do during navaratri? And why this particular name? Is there an older post, I can read? :)) Thanks so much in advance..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 8, 2013 at 9:19 AM

      Thanks so much, Atula! The golu is how we celebrate Navaratri. it is the focal point of our celebrations. since navaratri is mostly a womens' celebration, this is an oportunity for kids and family members to join in and show off their skills. also, the golu represents creation, as well as the quest for enlightenment. the step by step attainment of the divine.. from humans engaged in their chores at lower levels, myths and smaller deities helping awareness at the higher levels, and the gods at the highest levels. the kalasam is a pot with water and coconut kept on the golu.. representing the womb. the prnciples are the same, just shown in a different way. as for further reading, i have been writing abt golus for the past few years. you might have loads to read :D see this tho... have tried to explain the concepts here http://anushankarn.blogspot.in/2012/10/the-first-golu-for-this-year.html

      Delete
    2. atulaOctober 8, 2013 at 10:25 AM

      Aah. Now I know. I saw the pictures again and realise the stepped way they are placed even better now. What a wonderful depiction. Thanks a lot for introducing me to this. :)

      Delete
  6. Prasad NpOctober 8, 2013 at 11:06 AM

    This is so interesting.and something totally new for me. The elaborate mini holy town with complete details, the pictures are really good

    ReplyDelete
  7. P.N. SubramanianOctober 8, 2013 at 11:14 AM

    Indeed very beautiful. In the olden days we had plenty of Marapachis made of red sandalwood. Now they are no where to be seen. Even the ones we had at Home is missing. I am trying to collect some.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 9, 2013 at 8:29 AM

      THanks PNS! The marapachis you see are old ones. They have just been redecorated! the new ones come nowhere near in beauty... but they are available at Tirupati. my mom bought mine there, and they are quite good. We also bought marapachis from the forest division guys at tirupati... in the zoo. it was more expensive, but really beautiful.

      Delete
  8. Santosh BsOctober 8, 2013 at 1:04 PM

    Wow! every year I think of doing a theme but end up with the steps only owing to lack of time and time for thought!!! Need to plan for next year right away :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarOctober 9, 2013 at 8:30 AM

      Thanks Santosh! Thats what happens to us too... except that, thanks to samhith, we now keep a side arrangement.... but as to the main golu, that hasnt yet happened :D And yes, you really need to plan well in advance !

      Delete
  9. Ahila samyOctober 29, 2013 at 5:43 PM

    hi ur golu is excellent.I live in chennai can u please tell where to get the brass miniature set.Thank You in advance
    ahila

    ReplyDelete

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...
9 comments
Read more

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

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’...
1 comment
Read more

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.
3 comments
Read more