Golu...Golu...Golu...

It was one of those lazy Saturday mornings. The sun was already blazing and showed no mercy on the residents of Chennai. I was sipping my coffee with “davarah” on one hand and “tumbler” on the other. Appa was very busy with Hindu and Dina Malar. Amma, as usual in the kitchen was busy with cooking – “Chinna onion sambar” and “parruppu usili”. Suddenly, we heard Amma saying “So what’s the theme for Golu? Should we go and look for the new dolls?” Appa, shook his head and said “Saraswathi, lets go to the doll bazaar and see if there is something really interesting”. Hearing that, Amma speeded up her cooking process.

Within few minutes, I was on my way to AP stores to buy some groceries. In the corridor, I heard a conversation between two mami’s “Have you seen the Maha Vishnu doll that Sharadha had purchased yesterday. It is costly, but it is definitely worth the money. It’s a paper mache doll”.

I was back and Appa was waiting for me with a stool, standing in the bedroom right below the loft. I had to bring down the Golu Padi and the Golu Bommai from the loft. The Golu Padi was well wrapped in a gunny bag and was tied with sanal rope. The racks and the supporting structures were packed separately. The nuts and bolts were placed in a container next to these in the loft. “Kanna, be careful. It’s heavy”.

Within an hour the Golu padi was assembled and was kept in the hall. Amma was busy jotting down things that had to be purchased. It was already noon and we had to leave for the doll bazaar.

By evening, the Golu Padi was decorated with the serial bulbs and satin cloth. The new dolls were placed in the padi. The highlight was the Giri Valam. This was a new addition and we managed to decorate it as much as we can to make it an exact replica of the real one!!!


The theme behind celebrating Dusshera or Navarathri is the victory over the evil. It’s either celebrated as Lord Rama’s victory over the ten-headed Ravana (Commonly known as Ram Leela) or killing of mahisharsura by Goddess Durga (Ambal). Ram Leela is a common thing in the north. On the tenth day of the Dusshera, the effigy of Kumbhakarna, Meghnad and Ravana is burnt. It’s really a wonderful sight to watch. This has been depicted in the film Swades as well. In Tamilnadu, it is celebrated as Golu. The dolls are considered as Gods and Goddesses’ who help Goddess Durga in winning over Mahisharsura.

Today, it’s such an easy task to keep a Golu. Everything is available in the shops – stand, dolls, decorative materials etc. But this wasn’t the case 15 years back. The affluent people employed skilled carpenters to design and architect a Golu padi. I remember my grandma saying “we used make the Golu Padi with trunk boxes, bricks and wooden planks. The dolls used to be very heavy. They were made of clay”.

Its time for me to go and grab “sundal”. Happy Navarathri!!