Navratri Golu

– A festival of
dolls
Golu – Exhibition of dolls arranged
in Steps
• Dolls are arranged in 3, 5
or 9 steps during 9 days
of Navaratri (odd
numbers are auspicious)
• Dolls made from clay,
wood or ceramic are kept
in these steps
• Communities in South
India have this tradition –
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh.
 The Steps represent Human
Evolution – from animal to
God
• The arrangement represents
human evolution –
• bottom steps show animals, ordinary
humans, scenes from daily life
• middle steps shows dolls of demi-gods,
saints and great achievers like national
leaders
• and top steps shows dolls of Gods
and Goddesses.
• It signifies that from animal  behavior we
must develop saint like qualities and then
finally reach God.
Golu dolls in Bottom Steps
Bottom steps of Golu depict
•  

animals, humans doing their
daily work , shopping,
farm scenes, wedding
scenes, temple scenes, royal
processions, cricket sets etc. 
• Dolls from different countries
that we collect during travel
are also kept here.
• Every year based on current
trends dolls are added,
for example, this year, there
are dolls wearing masks
Golu Dolls in Middle
Steps
Middle Steps show dolls of demi-
gods, humans who became great
achievers, national leaders like
Gandhi and saints like Buddha,
Vivekanand, Tukaram etc.
 Dolls that show stories from
mythology are also kept here.
Golu – Top Steps
Top Layers show Gods, Godesses,
Dasavathar, Ganesh, Krishna, Ram,
the 3 Devis – Lakshmi, Durga,
Saraswati etc.
 So, why do we celebrate Golu???
Golu is an opportunity for people to show their creativity and artistic skills.

It is also a way to remember and teach children stories from mythology.

Most dolls are bought from craftsman, but people also make some dolls with
their hands using cloth, wood and clay, decorations are also made by hand.

Golu is an occasion for people to visit each other's homes and admire each
other's creativity. People sing and dance in front of the Golu, exchange gifts.

Finally after 9 days, the dolls are put to sleep and packed away into boxes.
Each year a new item is added to the collection.
Welcome to my Golu, Thank you!