Hyderabad: Tamilians celebrate Dasara with traditional gaiety in city

♦ Golu has nine steps or ‘padi’s’ that symbolise Nava vidha bhakti

♦ Whole process of setting up Golu symbolises shrishti, sthithi and laya of the universe

♦ Dolls and figurines are placed on a step-stand, symbolising the spiritual progression of human beings

Hyderabad: The Tamil community in Hyderabad is celebrating the Dasara festival in a unique manner. Different themes like the annual procession at the Tirumala temple and another at Ravan Darbar in Sri Lanka have taken centre stage in the decoration with clay dolls which are called ‘Golu’ in their tradition. Big lamps, lights, fresh fruits and flowers are also part of colourful decoration during the festivities.

According to the members of Tamil community ‘Golu’, or ‘Bommai kolu’, is an age-old tradition followed in Tamil Nadu and some other Southern States to celebrate Navarati. Besides gods and goddesses, various social themes are also often on display. Dolls and figurines are placed on a step-stand, symbolising the spiritual progression of human beings. The term ‘Golu’ is derived from the Tamil word ‘Kolu Veetriruthal’ meaning, the presence of kings and queens in the court.

Kalyani Krishnan, a member of Telangana Tamil Sangam and resident of Safilguda, has been decorating the clay dolls for the past 20 years, she said, “During Dasara we set it up for 10 days, as per our tradition and customs, three, seven or nine steps are set up and every year we have to place a new doll. Since my childhood, I have seen my grandmother and mother decorating dolls during Navaratri. The Kalash or Kalasam is kept in the middle as it denotes devotion, which is considered to be the centre point. Every year I come up with various themes and for this year I have set up a replica of Ravan Darbar and also of the Kanchi temple procession, Narasimha swamy.”

“A few clay dolls in my collection are from Madurai and a few are from the local markets, I love collecting them as it makes me happy and in turn helps us to promote our culture to the next generation,” she added

Describing the process Rem Rajan, another member of Telangana Tamil Sangam, said, “Our Golu has nine steps or ‘padi’s’ that symbolise Nava vidha bhakti (nine types of bhakti). It is said that the whole process of setting up the Golu symbolises shrishti, sthithi and laya of the universe - as in, to create, maintain and destroy. In our Golu, we have Vishnu the creator at the top most padi, Brahma in the middle and Shiva in the end to represent this. We have followed the Ashta- Lakshmi theme, with idols of Lakshmi flanked by kalasham, elephants, horses, food grains, children and others to represent that Lakshmi is the bestower of wealth and prosperity in all forms. Wealth is incomplete without education. Thus, we have Saraswathi devi and Ganesha in the foremost padi. Lastly, attainment of knowledge, bhakti, and even salvation will not be possible without guidance from our gurus.”

“Carrying forward the 25-year-old tradition of our grandparents and parents, we have set up our display to depict mythological events and it features different sets such as Vishu in spelling posture and many more. We have also invited several families from the society to see the vibrant display, take blessings from the deities and enjoy our traditional sundal prasadam (mixture of sprouts),” said Kiruthika, another member of Telangana Tamil Sangam.