Golu celebrations bring cheer

NAGPUR: Over 40 different dolls set in different scenes and set on seven steps adorn Giri Venkatraman Ayyer’s living room. His family has been celebrating Golu, a figurine display festival, celebrated every year during Navratri by those from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Several families in Nagpur are celebrating the festival with traditional fervour.
“The Durga is kept in the centre, mostly in a kalash, while the dolls are arranged in teams, and kept around Durga.The golus (dolls) are arranged on steps numbering either of 3,5,7,9 or 11, according to one’s will,” explains Ayyer, whose family has been celebrating the festival in the city since 1930, when his grandmother settled in Nagpur. However, the interest in preserving the rituals is slowly fading among families, Ayyer says.
His arrangement of golus include scenes of Kumbhkarna, Kailash Parbat, Ashtalakshmi, Dashavtar and more. The highlight of the festival is the different types of pulses offered as ‘prasad’ every day to visitors, along with sweets.
At Kala Ravi Kumar’s home on Mama Road, Dharampeth, a wedding theme, Ganesh idol, and other dolls lay decked on the seven steps. “Last year, there was a wedding in our house, which is why I had chosen the theme,” she explains. Kumar has been observing the festival since the past 10 years and enjoys thinking of themes for decorating her dolls.
Every day, several women visit each other’s house for the ritual of haldi kumkum and prasad. Social gatherings and cheer mark the city this year as well.
(Reporting by Abha Garodia