In Southern states of Tamil Nadu and to a lesser extent
in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the festival of Navrathri
is called Kolu or Navratri
Golu, where women set up decorated planks in
a corner of the house and decorating it with dolls which
are collected over the years. The origin of the word
Kolu can be traced to Tamil Kolu or Telugu Koluvai,
which means a sovereign sitting in his royal durbar.
As per belief the concept of arranging these Navrathri
dolls on the plank is to depict that Goddess
Mahishasuramardini is sitting in her Kolu, prior to
the slaying of the demon Mahishasura.
The
dolls are only decorated during these ten days but
the collection of dolls may have started over years.
These dolls can be very simple to very complicated
ones as per ones likes. Every year women enthusiastically
arrange these dolls as per their tastes. They either
remodify the existing dolls with some new additions
or they add couple of new dolls to the existing stacks
to decorate the plank every year.
These Navratri
dolls are arranged in several tiers. Maximum
no of tiers in which dolls are arranged are 9 depending
on time and space constraints.
Steps 1-3:
These steps are dedicated to— are devoted to
the Gods. So all the different idols of 
various
Gods are arranged here. The kumbham or the ceremonial
jar for holy water, which is a conical vessel, is
filled with fresh water. A silk cloth covers the mouth
of the vessel, a coconut and mango leaves are placed
on top of it. This is kept on the first step.
Steps 4-6: The
next three steps are devoted to saints like Sai Baba,
great men like Swami Vivekananda, demigods and even
national leaders who have sacrificed their lives for
the country.
Steps 7:
Various sets such as the marriage set and pongal set,
which signify the various human activities, are placed
on the seventh step.
Steps 8:
The eighth step is devoted to various businesses and
crafts, say the Chettiar dolls (equivalent of Sethji)—a
businessman and his wife are placed and their commodities
like rice, pulses in cups and other utensils are kept
in front of them.
Step 9:
The ninth step is the last stage where the traditional
wooden dolls called Marapachi — the male and
female dolls that are dressed in colorful and shining
clothes — are placed. Dolls of animals, birds,
reptiles and other forms of evolution are also kept
on this step.
On
the 10th night after the ceremonial arti and prayers,
the dolls are put to ‘sleep.’ And the
next day, the exhibits are packed carefully in cloth
or paper and preserved for use the next year. Another
novel trend is the concept of `community kolus’,
when many women, unable to keep kolu in their homes,
join hands and put up a Navratri
kolu in a common place.
Arranging Navrathri
Kolu is also an event in itself it means inviting
neighbors, friends and other relatives to visit your
home and view the Kolu decorated. Pleasantries and
small gifts are exchanged amongst women generally
women exchange coconuts, cloths and sweets amongst
themselves. Sumangali (married) women also exchange
bags containing a small mirror, turmeric, comb, beetle
leaves with supari.
