NavarAthri celebration and our memories

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 22 Sep 2009, 20:41

Happy navarAthri celebration to every one. I like every one share their pleasures and experiences in navarathri the present or past!

rajesh_rs · Post by **rajesh_rs** » 23 Sep 2009, 18:34

Thanks for your wishes, Mr. Raman. Navaratri was always a memorable occasion growing up when I helped set up the golu and the dolls and which kid of the 90s hasn't made parks and volcanoes and so on as part of the Golu? In my case, I threw in a few paper gliders and some of my model aircraft as well. Regrettably, my mother once included the Hardy Boys novel I was reading into the Saraswathi pooja and I couldn't lay my hands on it just when the suspense had built up! There are many lovely memories of Navaratri, and many of them are set to beautiful carnatic music too.

Sundara Rajan · Post by **Sundara Rajan** » 23 Sep 2009, 19:56

Ah! navarAthri, Kolu and varieties of sundal that I picked up as I chaperoned my young niece from house to house in the agrahAram in the early forties! And the variety of voices / shrieks I had tolerate ! It appears that the Kolu that was out of fashion in the seventies and eighties are back now, even here in the U.S. homes.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 23 Sep 2009, 20:19

In my childhood days, I used to go house to house last three days of the kolu with a cloth bag and I brought home a goolash. Wherever I visited I heard similar songs in all houses, sung by youngsters and elders, and now when I hear those songs outside kolu, I felt my God again kolu songs!

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 23 Sep 2009, 21:06

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 23 Sep 2009, 21:12

EXCELLENT PICTURES! Definitely makes one home sick......VKV

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 23 Sep 2009, 21:34

Beautiful pictures; yes , we turn nostalgic-remebering how we used to go from house to house,collecting sundal and deciding whose was the best; wonderful memories.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 23 Sep 2009, 22:15

Memories of the London temples, and of playing for several hours for all the students of one of the London Veena teechers on Dushera.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 23 Sep 2009, 22:49

Does any one know the significance of 'golu'?

kedharam · Post by **kedharam** » 23 Sep 2009, 23:05

deleted

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 24 Sep 2009, 09:17

wow.. navarAthri springs up many memories for me right from my childhood days.. Helping out mom for arranging the steps and the dolls , mouth watering 9 varieties of sundals across 9 days , listening to DKJ's kamalAmbA navAvarnam krithis in the morning , KVN's swAthi thirunAl navarAthri krithis in the evening with my grandma ( with pAhi janani santhatham being my favourite ), excited about the visitors coming home , going to friend's places , those concerts at ilayarAjA's house where uks sir plays one every year during navarAthri ( last year sAketharAman sang a beautiful bhairavi ) , keeping all the note books ( including rough note book

) for saraswati pooja , those wonderful vijayadasami mornings at uks sir's house ( looking forward to monday morning ) , all lovely memories..

Arvind..

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 24 Sep 2009, 09:45

My kolkatta days memories are a little varied in that on the Mahalaya ammavasai, at 4.30 am AIR plays Chandi Pat - a beautiful collection of sanskrit/bengali songs lead by "yaa devi sarvabhutheshu saktirUpENa SangstitA namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah" reveberating the entire community, durgA pandals in every street atleast one, people thronging to the puja pandals in thousands during the morning and evenings, loud speakers playing all kinds of north Indian filmy musics, and so on. knandago can expand on this.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 24 Sep 2009, 09:55

Here is a glimpse of the golu at my place this year:

Ravi - see http://www.hindu-blog.com/2009/09/why-d ... uring.html

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 24 Sep 2009, 10:12

I'm unable to view the photo, mohan. You can use the forum image code so that it is visible here itself.

For example,
[img=FluxBB bbcode test]http://rasikas.org/forums/img/test.png[/img] FluxBB bbcode test

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 24 Sep 2009, 10:16

I did use the code - if it doesn't work try http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/393 ... 031d_b.jpg

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 24 Sep 2009, 10:46

I can see it!

Magnificent, Mohan... beautiful!

VKR, Isn't there more emphasis on the social side, among the Bengalis, as well as the religious? I've heard great things about the dancing!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 24 Sep 2009, 10:54

Mohan, beautiful golu! I like the frame especially.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 24 Sep 2009, 12:17

Such a lovely golu! Really good, mohan. Being out of India, you have kept it very nicely! How did you carry all the golu dolls from India to your place?

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 24 Sep 2009, 13:26

Glad you liked it. We have collected the Indian dolls over many years. The large Ganesh on the third row is actually made in China and bought in Australia. Other ones have been collected from all around the world - so we have representation from Mexico, Holland, France, USA, Italy, Uganda

Golu is a family affair at my place. Most of the credit goes to my 83 year old father who has the patience and talent for the decorations! I lay out the dolls, my mother prepares the eats and my wife looks after the singing!

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 24 Sep 2009, 13:39

Showed the photos to everybody in my family. They also liked it! Superb, mohan.
My mother says that NRIs are much culturally interested and traditional than people living here! She especially likes your arrangement and feels it is very neat.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 24 Sep 2009, 13:59

Mohan, such a beautiful golu!No wonder because the whole family is involved. When you write about your fathr, I would like to write about my father too-he is 89 years old and this year for the golu in my sister's house in Albany,NY, he has taken the theme'shakti darishanam'; he has collected around 30 photos of Ambal/Shakthi and has arranged it as a sort of slide show or some such hing; if possible I will try to upload the picture. Acouple of years back, he had made 'kailas-manasarovar' in my sister's house.Such enthusiasm he has.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 24 Sep 2009, 15:17

mohan wrote:Glad you liked it. We have collected the Indian dolls over many years. The large Ganesh on the third row is actually made in China and bought in Australia. Other ones have been collected from all around the world - so we have representation from Mexico, Holland, France, USA, Italy, Uganda

Golu is a family affair at my place. Most of the credit goes to my 83 year old father who has the patience and talent for the decorations! I lay out the dolls, my mother prepares the eats and my wife looks after the singing!

A wonderful story! Thanks for sharing with us, mohan...

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 24 Sep 2009, 15:28

For me, Navarathri brings back memories of the first time my wife attended one of my concerts [at this time, of course, we were not yet married!], at the Shringeri Mutt in Chembur. She had almost no exposure to CM, so for this concert, I prepared a detailed folder with the lyrics of each song that I was planning to sing, the detailed word-by-word meaning and some anecdotes / significant features of each song. It was quite a treat watching her leaf through this and try to follow along as I sang. I also included a song which had her name in it, which she liked [sangIta shAstra gnAnamu - nEma nishTha yashOdhanamOsangunE]. That was received well!

It's also a time to learn up some fabulous dEvi songs. Some of my favorite songs: to name a few, tulasi jagadjanani, paradEvatA bruhatkuCAmbA, ambA nIlAyatAkshi etc were all learnt on or around Navarathri time. A special time of the year for sure...

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 24 Sep 2009, 16:31

Wow Prashant. That was quite a detailed preparation

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 24 Sep 2009, 16:32

Wonderful Golu Mohan

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Sep 2009, 19:51

Two overwhelmingly appealing things about this wonderful festival are evident in the posts as to what celebrations are all about. While the food factor is always there

it is the coming together of a family in creating something beautiful--as exemplified in Mohan's family kolu. Great to know the fathers, in Punarvasu's case too, are the art directors in their homes.
As for Prashant, what a wonderful way of bonding! They look lovely together!

Cienu's environment was as if it were a kolu day every day--music surrounding him at all times, and visitors pouring in!

Thanks for lovely pictures.

Do folks sing koluvaiyunnADE kOdanDa pANi at home and in concerts?
By the way, cuNDal of legumes nine days in a row is a lesson in good nutrition too, to a mainly rice eating population.
Once again, happy navarAtri to all!

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 24 Sep 2009, 20:24

Nick: You are correct. All the Puja Pandals are called sarva janeen puja.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 24 Sep 2009, 21:49

Mohan - lovely golu!

Thanks for the link to the blog - I guess the author (is it you?) has mistakenly given the number of steps to be an 'even' number, while the examples are correct (odd numbers)...

The write up is very nice - just a couple of different things I have heard: The golu represents the ascent of man - starting with the ceTTiyAr dampati and their maLigai sAmAn at the bottom and the 'gods' at the top, the symbolism is the ascent from the materialistic to the spiritual, with the pUrNakumbham in the center of middle step - in addition to the auspiciousness of the kalaSam, apparently the outside of the of the combu has criss-crossing threads around it which is thought to symbolize the inter-connection betwen individuals in society.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 24 Sep 2009, 21:49

Prashant - an interesting story!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 25 Sep 2009, 04:29

Prashant, that is very nice anecdote you mentioned. I am sure by now your wife is an expert 'rasikai'.
Our best wishes to both of you.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 25 Sep 2009, 05:31

Prashant - cool story.

I forgot to mention my 4 year old daughter helped with the golu dolls - and the bottom step was assigned to her. My son, who is 6 months, is basically a living golu doll - and I am sure he will be involved in the years ahead!

Ravi - the Hindu blog author is not me. Only some families use the kalasam. We don't have it.

Punarvasu - looking forward to the pictures of your Dad's presentation.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 25 Sep 2009, 06:22

Mohan, here is the link to the 'golu' featuring my dad's presentation.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mskmoorthy/Kolu2009
Nice to hear about you young kids getting involved in the golu.I am sure your son will inherit the qualities of his grandparents and parents and continue the legacy.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 25 Sep 2009, 06:30

Punarvasu - thanks for sharing the pictures. It is a very creative set up and the idea to disguise a digital photo frame in a temple is an excellent one. Like the Cafe next to the temple too!

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 25 Sep 2009, 06:33

Punarvasu - Very creative and simple. I love it.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 25 Sep 2009, 06:47

Punarvasu - very nice...

Mohan, I have seen a few cafes outside temples here in the US, and have always wondered how they stayed in business, given the excellent cafeterias in the temples....

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 25 Sep 2009, 07:17

Punarvasu, nice! I liked the rAmar temple especially. Incidentally, what do you guys use to construct the golu steps? When we used to keep golu, we had a metal framework with wooden planks, and the whole thing took a day to set up and my hands used to be sore from tightening the gazillion screws... am I allowed to have some not-so-fond memories of navarAthri?

But of course, actually setting up the golu, the visitors, the "kalakalappu", the chundal and snacks, were all immensely enjoyable! And placing all my textbooks in front of the golu during saraswati pUjai and not having to study that day was the best part of it all

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 25 Sep 2009, 07:35

bilahari - my father constructs a wooden cube like structure and along the left and rights sides there are some horizontal beams to support the wooden planks (padi-s) Since the planks are quite long they need to be have some additional support underneath in the centre. It takes a few days to set all this up!

I have visited some people who have brought metal steps from India - it is a hinged structure that folds for easy storage.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Sep 2009, 09:13

Punarvasu,
Your father's islands of kolu is charming. Each kolu is different and that's what is so special. While the array of gods on the steps were impressive, what were at the foot of them attracted us as chidren. That's where most of the creative energy of the family went into. Those of us who have settled elsewhere n the world have to be innovative in every aspect of the kolu (see Mohan family and Punarvasu's father's step making and handiwork).
Going back so many years, I remember mini celluloid (light and dainty) jointed, posable dolls my mother used in scenes. Ah yes, many families had a mini teppakkuLam (tank) like the temple ones, red and white striped. Some scenes had lush grasslike growth (sprouted wheat) and train sets which the hosts set in motion when children arrived. In our days, we went in groups and sang in neighborhood houses dressed up in our finery or in costume (Krishna was the most popular). We got bags of cuNDal and in some houses, snacks to eat there after we sang. Halloween all week long for us! I have memories of lit oil lamps, Arati and the fragrance of flowers and rustle of silk saris...
It was social soirees for the wealthy, they even printed invitations which specified a couple of days and timings which surprised most who had an open house every day. Remembered bit of conversation: you had specified the days and so we had to somehow make it today!
The hostess: the reason is, we need other days to go to kolus in other people's houses. Will you be there tomorrow? I would like to come to your kolu!
I thought the woman made sense because I was not keen if the woman of the house was not there when we arrived. You just had to pick up some suNDal and keep going--no looking at the dolls, singing and the rest of the fun...

Speaking about navarAtri when we welcome friends and family into our homes, I wonder how many of you have seen the thread on new members. I suppose you will be very happy to welcome.......
Find out for yourselves. At first, I thought it was a hoax when I saw the name in another thread which had to be locked for some other reason.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 Sep 2009, 10:55

shriranjani · Post by **shriranjani** » 25 Sep 2009, 12:01

I would like to tell you a little about the Mysorean(Hebbar Iyengar)golu.We have the usual steps showcasing our exquisite collection of ivory & sandalwood figurines of Deities as well as jataka,hand-pulled rickshaw etc.Most of us also have beautiful collections of porcelain dolls -all handed down from gen. to gen.I have a German porcelain Ganesa& Rama which my grandmother had bought in 1920 or so!!We also have collections of dolls made out of celluloid-they are British dolls-all of early 1900-I also have a tiny Hindu newspaper-of26th Dec.1957!!All of us have 'pattada gombe'-(traditional Mr.& Mrs)given at the time of marriage-I have a cute pair in ivory & another made of compressed wood dust which is more than a 100 yrs old.The lady is in a sari which was specially woven -it has a border on both sides & a inner & outer pallu!!It is Dharmavaram with checks ,contrast border without zari-most contemporary sari-made all those years ago!!The doll is about10 inches tall!!
In addition to the usual display,every housewife exhibits her skills at doll-making & decoration.In the good old days,my mother would collect all the cardboard boxes over the year which we fashioned into cinema hall,wedding hall,small 'snow'dabbas were for houses etc!!everything to scale & an entire town created out of waste!
When I wasn't so tied up with classes,I had done some memorable stuff-1yr Krishna was the theme-had lil dolls on one another & tiny pots hanging in the huts for them to dig into!!Had made a Kalinga & perched Kr on it in a body of water.Had a palace & Sudama being entertained by Kr with tiny yele-sapaad & ladies fanning em etc!The pinnale pinnindrilluppan episode(I hv made a S.Indian doll-4ins tal with a luvly pinnal,kunjalam etc).The pond with all my plastic tiny dolls in water bathing & Kr on a tree with their clothes & flute in hand!!.The next yr was election frenzy,so we had jeeps,lorries,carrying banners & loudspeakers on the roads,election booth wid electronic voting machine(it had just been intro.)& old ladies,the Christian bride & bridegroom(fr my bridal collection)besides gen public,queing up to vote!!In the market sq there was 1 election meeting of BJP with Sadhvi Rithambara(a firebrand then) add. the gathering)-lot of banners etc.On the opp side was a Congress election rally addressed by a glamourous film star!On a hill nearby in front of a kovil sat an astrologer to predict poll results with politicians queing up!!Had gr8 fun doing a spoof on our election!!One yr it was the Ramayan-all dolls made by hand-(sev. ramas,Lakshmanas-4ins tall)-a wrinkled old Shabari,Ravana wid his 10 heads-janaka's palace,Gautama's hut,sabari's hut,forest etcetc-the swayamwar scene & a demure Sita won the hearts of the public(I used to extend golu to last 15-18 days,people walked thru d house fr morn till nearly midnight-it got v crazy-unknown people walked in on hearing abt it!!
Our doll's house,bazaar-complete with exhibitions etc were mostly handmade-I used to enjoy it immensely & my husband too contributed towards making small objects out of chalk,wire etc!!I have photographs which I will scan and post shortly.
Oh yes,most of us have a Nilagowri-a big doll made of compressed wood dust-since she stands abt. 21/2 ft tall,she gets to wear our saris!!each day of Navaratri she is dressed differently.In the old days,she was a Gujarati one day,Punjabi next & so on!We did not have a sundal tradition-our mothers made 'bombe bagina'-miniature murrukku,tenkolal,tiny sweets-laddoos etc-each day a different snack!!So it was great fun.The poojas,singing,kolam etc were similar to the Tamil Navaratri.
Happy Navaratri & Vijayadashmi to all.

smala · Post by **smala** » 25 Sep 2009, 13:17

Shriranjani - really interesting additions - especially how women-folk of previous generations who processed, cooked and fed round the clock used their spare time to draw, create beautiful artistic things to add each year to the Kolu..... which for the very young was all about a fuzzy warmth, color and lively charm ("the kaLakaLuppu" someone mentioned) with inordinate amounts of time spent sitting in front of it all, escaping into imagination, conversing with the little creatures .....I recall that my paaTTi once made a lovely house using stray cardboard (attai) pieces and very cleverly stuck tamarind seeds (puLiang kottai) close allover to give it a pebbled look - seeds cleaned and collected carefully from the kilos of puLi bought each year. ....Can't recall exactly what she did to give the Ottu roof look but close to the house was a tiny well, a small rope (kayaru) kodam, nearby a couple of wood/porcelain cows stood with some hay. This picture of a village home true to reality is something I cherish. Then there were innumerable "choppu" - a small viLakku, neat little wood pots and pans and "aDupu" used in the household that all girls liked to play indulging in the "Now I'm Amma..." mode. The game or two of "Daya Kattam" in the afternoons, did this use the Kottai? ...or am I confusing something ? The chozhi, sea-shell/cowrie shell collection, was also a memorable part of Kolu as well as leisurely games in the afternoon. Can't recall the name of the chozhi game.........

Read a great piece about the simpler things here...........http://www.hindu.com/2001/04/13/stories/13130071.htm and another on village ways and folk games......http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/yw/200 ... 020200.htm

I also tenderly recall a proud possession from my father's humble childhood, a simple kaleidoscope from the 1920's - is that what it was ?- made of tough cardboard exterior that we peered into only a thousand times to see an array of brilliant multicolored new geometric patterns unfold each time - it was a magical time, fascinating - the innocence of the past was in the things they had those days for Kolu simple, earthy and humble things, reflecting a thrifty yet creative-within-means outlook on life. Brings a tear or two.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 25 Sep 2009, 14:07

A picture of MS Amma at a Golu Function in the mid 70's (possibly at her daughter Smt Vijaya Rajendran's place)

vganesh · Post by **vganesh** » 25 Sep 2009, 14:55

Nothing compare to the above (MS amma and golu) photo. But just thought of sharing the way we had arranged golu at our home, you can see in the link.

http://www.kutcheribuzz.com/navarathri2 ... _1387.html

We called up kutcheribuzz and since we were in the first 50 callers as menitoned in their ad, they have published ours. Myself, my wife and two children.

V.Ganesh

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 25 Sep 2009, 15:29

vganesh - thanks for sharing your golu and the site which has many other interesting ones.
shriranjani - it will be nice to see pictures of the antuque dolls.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 Sep 2009, 16:24

vganesh ji,
It was such a cute golu. I liked it very much! Thank you for presenting it and congratulations to you for getting selected in KutcheriBuzz

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 25 Sep 2009, 16:25

cienu sir,
Thanks a lot for sharing that priceless photo.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 25 Sep 2009, 17:39

Cienu,
What a gift for rasikAs for navarAtri! Music incarnated
and
Ganesh,
The family of a rasikA's kolu to represent our forum's family of listeners!

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 25 Sep 2009, 18:06

vganesh,

Wonderful & thoughtful collection of photos.

TKrishnababu

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 25 Sep 2009, 18:40

Why has no one mentioned about the tradition in some households of keeping a pair of marapachi bommais (wood-sculpted dolls) in the kolu?

Every year, for navaratri, these dolls get new clothes stiched for them. I could see a couple of pairs in mohan's photo (post #13 above)

Also the evolution of the kolu seems to be going in for including teddy bears and other non-clay based dolls. In one house I have seen a Mary with a baby Jesus in her arms too.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 25 Sep 2009, 18:41

cienu, thanks for sharing the priceless photo.
vganesh, congratulations for gettting selected to feature in the kuttcheribuzz.com and thanks for sharing the photos.
VKRAMAN sir, a big 'THANK YOU '-for starting the thread.