I miss the dazzle of dandiya nights in Mumbai, where every housing society goes overboard to decorate its premises, and people decorate themselves in colourful dandiya costumes for the navraatri revelry.
Nevertheless, I decided to soak in the homely elegance of painted dolls that mark the nine days' revelry on the east coast. Dusshera, Navraatri and kolu are synonymous with the south. Gombe Habba in Bangalore, Bommalakolu for many households in Andhra, and simply kolu in Chennai.
During those early years when I spent a week at my granny's place in Chromepet (suburb in Madras - the erstwhile name of Chennai), I'd visit homes of complete strangers in our street with granny to gape at the floor to ceiling magic of painted dolls - Gods, goddesses, kings, queens, men, women, even dogs, besides the `park' made intricately on the floor.
I remember how one such `park' had a beautiful pond with ducks floating on it, apart from the mandatory hill temple, road and house, all fixed on sand spread on floor to make a big rectangle. My guess is, they used a kid's big sized lunch box to create a swimming pool. That image stayed with me for a long time though. Those days, a lot of homes used wooden planks to form the steps in odd numbers - of three, five, seven or nine steps.
Times have changed. Slotted angle metal racks that come in bluish grey have replaced wood, plastic boxes have replaced the brass and silver utensils that women gifted with the `vettelapakku' or `tambulam', the size of such steps has come down with the shrinking size of rooms at homes, and the next-gen IT employed nomads cannot as much as dream of lugging mud dolls from city to city.
Still, a lot of people have held on to the tradition rather ferociously. This time, I had the opportunity to visit three homes with kolu. Not a great score that! But the experience was lovely. I went with the wonderment of a Mumbaikar and familiarity of a Bangalorean.
My dream: may dolls made of eco-friendly material dominate the collections as soon as possible.
--
this picture above is of kolu at my neighbour's home. Lord Balaji and Padmavathy stand tall on the highest step, followed by goddesses Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswathi.
this doll is the charming Goddess Annapoorna looking lovely in her green saree. It is something I have not found in the many homes that I visited so far. Notice Ganesha and his big sized mouse beneath her. A lot of times, Ganesha idols bought for worship during Ganesh Chaturthi make their way to become part of the doll crowd.
creativity overflows at this time of the year. this picture is of my neighbour's intricately made rangoli, with - can you imagine what? Salt crystals! Rub in a bit of colour and salt tends to absorb it. All you need is a packet of those myriad rangoli colours that sell in our traditional markets.
This set of dolls too, is something I have never come across - Ravana Sabha. It's the scene from Ramayana where Hanuman perches himself on his own long tail in the court of demon king Ravana.
The park set. An innovation. My sister and I would struggle at roads for the park. We'd think of charcoal, but who on earth in an urban defence colony would sell charcoal! Those days, felt paper, or velvet paper as we called it, was in vogue for craft projects at school, so a black velvet sheet did the trick for us. This set, at the apartment of my neighbour who lives opposite mine, has recycled plastic that does the job. Just spread sand over a sheet of cut garbage bag and be happy! The hill-mound has Lord Ayyappa perched on top, with the 18-steps leading to him made of gold paper stuck on to a pale yellow chart paper. Notice the all swanky car parking lot, belonging to the household's darling, a shy boy of five.
Pandaripur's Krishna and Radha have made their way to this Chennai home - actually at my aunt's place.
No kolu is complete without Chettiar and Chettiamma, flanked either by fruits made of mud, or household utensils and provisions. This set of the classic couple has a fridge to cool them in Chennai heat!
Ganesha made of leaves, either as pictures or idols, has grown common over the years. This one at my aunt's place, is a flower design - all earthy hibiscus at that.
Displaying dolls alone is not enough to celebrate the nine days. Women have to offer food such as boiled and flavoured beans, channa that is locally known as sundal, peas, sweets and other such delicacies to the Gods. They have to be worshipped every day. Of course, even in this worship, creativity rules.
Pic Courtesy: M Radhika
PS: More related posts to follow
Nevertheless, I decided to soak in the homely elegance of painted dolls that mark the nine days' revelry on the east coast. Dusshera, Navraatri and kolu are synonymous with the south. Gombe Habba in Bangalore, Bommalakolu for many households in Andhra, and simply kolu in Chennai.
During those early years when I spent a week at my granny's place in Chromepet (suburb in Madras - the erstwhile name of Chennai), I'd visit homes of complete strangers in our street with granny to gape at the floor to ceiling magic of painted dolls - Gods, goddesses, kings, queens, men, women, even dogs, besides the `park' made intricately on the floor.
I remember how one such `park' had a beautiful pond with ducks floating on it, apart from the mandatory hill temple, road and house, all fixed on sand spread on floor to make a big rectangle. My guess is, they used a kid's big sized lunch box to create a swimming pool. That image stayed with me for a long time though. Those days, a lot of homes used wooden planks to form the steps in odd numbers - of three, five, seven or nine steps.
Times have changed. Slotted angle metal racks that come in bluish grey have replaced wood, plastic boxes have replaced the brass and silver utensils that women gifted with the `vettelapakku' or `tambulam', the size of such steps has come down with the shrinking size of rooms at homes, and the next-gen IT employed nomads cannot as much as dream of lugging mud dolls from city to city.
Still, a lot of people have held on to the tradition rather ferociously. This time, I had the opportunity to visit three homes with kolu. Not a great score that! But the experience was lovely. I went with the wonderment of a Mumbaikar and familiarity of a Bangalorean.
My dream: may dolls made of eco-friendly material dominate the collections as soon as possible.
--
this picture above is of kolu at my neighbour's home. Lord Balaji and Padmavathy stand tall on the highest step, followed by goddesses Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswathi.
creativity overflows at this time of the year. this picture is of my neighbour's intricately made rangoli, with - can you imagine what? Salt crystals! Rub in a bit of colour and salt tends to absorb it. All you need is a packet of those myriad rangoli colours that sell in our traditional markets.
This set of dolls too, is something I have never come across - Ravana Sabha. It's the scene from Ramayana where Hanuman perches himself on his own long tail in the court of demon king Ravana.
The park set. An innovation. My sister and I would struggle at roads for the park. We'd think of charcoal, but who on earth in an urban defence colony would sell charcoal! Those days, felt paper, or velvet paper as we called it, was in vogue for craft projects at school, so a black velvet sheet did the trick for us. This set, at the apartment of my neighbour who lives opposite mine, has recycled plastic that does the job. Just spread sand over a sheet of cut garbage bag and be happy! The hill-mound has Lord Ayyappa perched on top, with the 18-steps leading to him made of gold paper stuck on to a pale yellow chart paper. Notice the all swanky car parking lot, belonging to the household's darling, a shy boy of five.
Pandaripur's Krishna and Radha have made their way to this Chennai home - actually at my aunt's place.
No kolu is complete without Chettiar and Chettiamma, flanked either by fruits made of mud, or household utensils and provisions. This set of the classic couple has a fridge to cool them in Chennai heat!
Ganesha made of leaves, either as pictures or idols, has grown common over the years. This one at my aunt's place, is a flower design - all earthy hibiscus at that.
Displaying dolls alone is not enough to celebrate the nine days. Women have to offer food such as boiled and flavoured beans, channa that is locally known as sundal, peas, sweets and other such delicacies to the Gods. They have to be worshipped every day. Of course, even in this worship, creativity rules.
Pic Courtesy: M Radhika
PS: More related posts to follow
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