Dussera - Chennai Style!

This year we happened to spend Dussera in Chennai. In this part of the country, this festival is associated with Golu(Doll Arrangement). Every couple, is gifted a pair of wooden toys on the eve of their marriage and to this they keep adding new dolls year on year.

A typical Golu!
While in many cases Golu seems like dolls arranged thoughtlessly row after row, look closely and you may be surprised! Mind you, usually the girls of the house put random dolls together to create these scenes.....

A village house complete with temple and Kids playing Caroms

A temple scene complete with devotees and Horse men!
A Musical Recital In Progress
Grain Merchants - Don miss the Money Box
A scene straight From South Indian Wedding
Post Marriage Procession :)

12 comments:

  1. Quite interesting! :) I loved the music recital one.. with the trinity of Carnatic music :D

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  2. oh! that is an interesting bit of the golu ya... two before the wedding and the keep on adding part... this is the first I've seen them in such dramatic picturisation.. always seen them on steps.. but awesome.. esp.1222 ones.. wasn't that the number of ganeshas.. wish to have somewhere half of that some day :)

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  3. So pretty! I saw a Golu arrangement at someone else's place and I never really thought of it much. This made me notice well.

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  4. Wow so interesting... Lot of thought into putting up the scenes...looks so cute! This ritual will always keep the inner child alive! :)

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  5. This seems like such a wonderful and interesting tradition. Came to know about this only last year when I saw posts about Golu dolls on many blogs. And like your pictures, some of the arrangements I saw on blogs were really creative and so amazing!

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  6. I love this post, Meena. I had been looking at Golu photos all over FB and was too shy to ask what the arrangement means. Did not want to be called an ignoramus. But here I am ready to confess. :D Kudos to the artist who made these delighfully pretty dolls, and to those hands which arranged them thus for all to see.

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  7. Beautiful pictures Meena and I like the new look of the blog.

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  8. Lovely!!
    We do this in Mysore/Bangalore too!
    The dolls are kept for all 10 days of Dasara... :)

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  9. I love Golu! I remember when I was young, we would go to lots of maamis' houses and I would be so captivated by the beautiful dolls that they displayed! So creative and so imaginative! Love the ones you have captured!

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  10. They look very beautiful . Probably celebrated in south india in that way .

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  11. They are so colorful and beautiful!

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  12. I always loved seeing this dolls and also the sweets made on this day. India is so rich of do many cultures and traditions.

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