The practice of keeping Golu bommai goes a long way back, for it is recorded in scriptures and also finds mentions in the Thanjavur Maratha period, the Vijayanagar Empire, and the Chola period.
The festival is simple and is conducted by the ladies of the house. Besides, the festival passes good vibes, and the practice adopted contain meanings; so much so, the Golu bommai festival imparts
Learning (each doll is a story)
Growing (each year you add one new doll, your life grows)
Connecting (people come home)
People keep Golu dolls in a staircase arrangement, but only in odd numbers, and they must follow a principle: the bottom step should contain plants and inanimate objects, the next step contains animals, successive steps contain different categories of men, and the final step is dedicated to GODS.
Now, if we view the Golu staircase for bottom to up, it implies evolution and if we view it from top to bottom it speaks about God’s compassion.
Thus, it is a festival like no other.
It is also that some have wooden dolls in the guise of husband and wife finds a place in Golu, it is known as Marapachi bommai; it is marked as unique and pure. It is handed down through generations and is considered prestigious to possess one.
More so, some dolls from the city of Thanjavur are considered unique and they contain a GI tag too, it also finds a place in the Golu bommai entourage.
Now the festival gets more spark as every year the doll makers have to come up with innovative Golu bommais, and we all know that there is no dearth to a man’s imagination.
Thus this festival will always be colourful, vibrant and contains a warm vibe. Therefore, it may be something that technology can never erase.
