Online Navaratri Golu(display of dolls)

If  Dussehra for me is synonymous with  Mysore, then Navaratri is synonymous with Mylapore.This suburb of  Madras will be bustling with activity now. People throng to worship at the 7th century Kapali Koil(temple). Though everyday is a festival here, it is more special here during these 9 days with lots of devotees thronging to see the deity's Alankaram(decoration), the traditional music and dance concerts and the 'golu' at the temple. 

During this time all(most) tamil households arrange dolls in steps called  ' Golu'.  It is customary to buy a new set every year and add to the collection of the old dolls, some of which are heirloom. The streets around the temple called 'Maada Veedhi'   has lots of make shift shops and push carts selling dolls. For those of us, away from mylapore/tamilmadu and especially those living in faraway countries can buy all these dolls online too.

Following are some of the clay and papier mache sets made by the artisans of South India.

KAILAYAM ( Abode of Shiva - Kailash)  -  a 14 piece clay set 

Kailayam is the abode of Siva. The set includes Siva, Parvathy, his vahana (vehicle) Rishabam, his sons Ganesha and Muruga sitting on the Kailayam Mountain. The other dolls included in the set are Vishnu, Lakshmi, Brahma, Saraswathi, Nandi with drums etc.

GOVARTHANA GIRI SET

This set tells the story when Krishna saved the villagers and the cows from the continuous downpour of rain. He is lifting the Govardhana mountain and holding it by his little finger like an umbrella. The villagers, the cow and calf dolls are also included.

                    URIADI KANNAN [BUTTER STEALING KRISHNA]

Uriadi kannan set contains 5 nos of beautiful clay dolls.Put these dolls in centre steps of golu steps.Lord Krishna's cowboy friends are around and help him to steal butter.This is one of the games  Lord Krishna played in  childhood. This scene potrays the lord as a person who steal as a butter and cheese from the house of a cheese maker. Cheese[white color] symbolizes our clean and pure heart.

                                                                   Azhagar Veedi Ula [clay]

                                                       

This is a 25 piece set which is a representation of a famous festival in the Temple city, Madurai, Tamilnad. The Azhagar veethi ula/ street procession of god  is the main event in the festival and the dolls depicting the event would be agreat addition in the Golu

The court of  chola king 'Manu' ( synonymous with justice)

Thiruvarur was the capital during Manuneethi Cholan.  Manuneedhi Cholan was a legendary Chola king believed to have killed his own son to provide justice to a Cow, following Manu needhi(Manu's law). Legend has it that the king hung a giant bell in front of his courtroom for anyone needing justice to ring. One day, he came out on hearing the ringing of the bell by a cow. On enquiry he found that the Calf of that Cow was killed under the wheels of the Prince's  chariot. In order to provide justice to the cow, he tried to kill his own son under the chariot as a punishment to himself, i.e. make himself suffer as much as the cow. Lord Siva appeared in front of him and gave the life back to the calf. This is one of Lord Siva's Thiruvilayadal (Holy play) to show the world the just nature of the king. 

A stone sculpture depicting the story of the Manu Needhi Cholan (the chariot, the king, cow, calf etc.)  is found in Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, India.

AMMAN KOLAM (Brahmin marriage)

The bride and groom are carried by the uncles or fathers to the marriage mandappam (in olden times). There was a musical group around playing instuments and singing songs.These dolls are bright and sure to make most people nostalgic

KALYANA SET (South Indian Wedding set)

This clay  set shows the South Indian wedding. The dolls included are the bride (Kalyana penn), groom (mappillai), bride's sister, bride's parents, groom's parents, priest, his assistant priest, agni kund, ammikkal with attukkal( grinding stone), pots etc. This set contains13 pieces.

VILLAGE SET( clay)

This set contains 25 clay dolls. Types of village houses and washerman with donkey, thatched house, postman with post office, small temple with gurukkal , school with students,  milk maid with cow are interesting . Both the village and vayal set can be best displayed by making a landscape, by spreading some sand below and trying to make roads with used dry coffee powder and small water tanks/ponds by placing water in  shallow dishes and spreading some ragi and wheat sprouts here and there. These sprouts grow into lush green lawns, making the golu more attractive.

VAYAL SET

Twenty pieces in this clay doll set. Arrange these doll set on floor front of the golu steps of sides of the steps.This set suitable for arranging with mountain, park, pond and village set.Something interesting for children to know cultivation, harvesting and bullock cart withcows.This set brings the farm in Tamil Nadu to your home. The farmer, bullock cart carrying the hay, woman transplanting the rice plant, woman carrying the bale of hay, woman removing the weeds from the paddy field, a man removing the grains from the hay, a man chafing the rice from the bran and more are included in this set.

POIKKAL KUDHIRAI SET( False footed horse) - A folk art of tamilnadu

Poikkal kudhirai is a great art performed in villages.This set contains 8 pieces.

                                                          PONGAL SET [clay]

Pongal or Sankranti is a harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu. The set comes with the mother making pongal on a wooden stove, father, boy and girl. The house, Cow and calf are also included in the set. All the above have to arranged on a landscape like in village/vayal set

Mahabalipuram

This doll set represents all the important monumental structures of the mahabalipuram.

Mahabalipuram,derived from 'Mamallapuram' is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has an average elevation of 12 metres (39 feet).Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler), as the favourite sport of the Pallavas was wrestling. It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

ref : wikipedia

All the above sets and the corresponding texts are courtesy from an online site here  which sells the above sets online.

This is  my online golu this time and the next 9 days are time to feast,fast and soak the festive air.

For information on Golu, read here.

The Indian Halloween/ Hungry ghost - Mahalaya Paksh

Mine is a generation caught between the traditional rituals ( especially if you are from a semi-orthodox family) and   Modern World, there are times when we are in a  dilemma as to which side to take.

Take for instance, today is Mahalya amavasya and the fortnight preceding this is called Mahalaya paksham, traditionally in orthodox families men are supposed to pray for their ancestors and conduct a ritual called ‘Tarpanam’. Having done the tarpanam you are barred from eating outside food through the fortnight.  

After the ritual,  what if you have to  attend a  very important working lunch with your customers  or official dinner  or   if you are to travel on work or if you are on an onsite project.  How practical is this ritual then?

Shunning the rituals could agonise the elders  in the family and shunning office work, well you know whom we would agonise.  Isn’t it like a catch -22 situation? Either ways you feel guilty. 

 At times like this,  many of my generation tweak  the rituals according to our convenience contributing to the lifestyle change,  but read on what this ritual is all about.

 Pitru paksh/shraddh paksh /  Mahalaya paksh is a pan Indian hindu ritual practiced by many. This is a ritualistic custom  to reflect on the contributions  our ancestors/forefathers made, the cultural and traditional values they set for us in order to make our lives better.   The practice of the ritual varies from place to place like in some regions they fast, some abstain from eating certain vegetables and in Northern India my friends say that they do not buy any new things during this period.  It is the responsibility of everyone to keep up the pride of the family lineage by performing actions that promote the good of all. The fortnight of ancestor worship is nothing but a reminder of one's lineage and duties towards it.

Only once in a year a great celebration takes place in the Pitra loka (ancestral world) and only for 2 weeks during  the “Mahalaya Amavasai/ Fortnight”. This year it commenced on the 13th of September 2011, right after the full moon day and ends on the Mahalaya New Moon day, which is today  on the 27th of September 2011. This two week’s period is the most important period to appreciate your departed ancestors. 

Our departed forefathers / ancestors cannot come to this world whenever they think, except on Amavasai ( New Moon ), the starting day of every month and during Malaya Paksha. So they all come in sookshma (means not visible to naked eyes) dehas and if we offer them the sesame (gingelly/til) and water they accept that, and bless us directly. The last day of the mahalaya paksh called Mahalaya Amavasya is very significant for Hindu rituals.  It is called Mahalaya Shraddh.

According to Saranam, a devotional journal, Generally a priest perfoms the rituals of shraddh in a sacred place or along a river bank. It is believed that as the physical body is lost after death, the absolute earth element from the sheath surrounding the subtle body reduces and the water element increases. The constitution of the sheath is such that level of humidity in it is maximum since the rituals are related to the body of the deceased, they are perfomed on the banks of a river where humidity is high and attracts the subtle body, hence all these rites and rituals are perfomed along river banks. Our ancient Siddhas understood that honoring ancestors through tarpanam ritual keeps us living with good health, wealth, prosperity and enlightenment.

 A similar type of ritual is practiced by the Chinese called ‘Hungry ghost’ festival and the westerners called ‘Halloween’. The main reason why Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese community are successful in material wealth is just simply because they are strictly observing their ancestral ritual both monthly and yearly. Just by following elaborate ancestral rituals and dharma as thought by our Siddhas (the great South Indian Mystic Scientist) monthly and yearly we can attain both material and spiritual success in life easily.

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Mahalaya Paksha is much like the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival or the Halloween. According to Siddhas (South Indian Mystics) the main reason for all of our everyday problems besides planets is the departed spirits of our ancestors. Our role is that we should constantly connect to the departed ancestors to live a peaceful life. The blessings of our deceased ancestors, both maternal as well as paternal, are a major reason why you do or do not succeed in this life. 

                                                        Chinese 'Hungry Ghost' festival

                                                                     Halloween Pumpkin lanterns

                                                'Tarpanam' ritual on the river banks

Pics and info courtesy: Indian scientific knowledge academy- a journal devoted to scientific study of Indian rituals, customs and practices