Navratri Golu Decorations - Ideas and Tips

Dear Birundha,
You can just keep a kalasam in the puja room & worship that as amman. It is rice & coconut.
Love,
Chithra

 

dear birraj,

hi am shree . me too sailing in the same boat. what i did is i put 2 chits in front of the god one saying i can go ahead and do and one saying i should not. itwhich came out to be the positive one so i kept the golu for 2 yrs , after keeping the golu for the first time i informed my in laws they were happy only. also they donot have the custom of having the kalasam. which my parent used to keep in their place, so i kept the kalasam. my inwas were there few months back to stay with us... they were here to help me b'cos i underwent a very drastic thing in my life , (which is almost close to rebirth kind of a thing) that too during my pregnancy period ,all of a sudden.,.. hope u can guess, they blamed me b.cos i kept the kalasam , as it is some thing like bringing the godess to your place(aavaahanam ).... also they said i took it very light .... thats y everyhting happened. to me.... by gods grace am alright now..... hope am not scaring u, sorry if i did so, so what i would conclude is go as per your inlaws wishes , b.cos it is always better to get the wishes of the elderly ones before starting a good new aspect esp some traditional thing. ok all the best

love
shree

 

one more what my inlaws said me though we can go ahead and keep the bommai in the golu, make sundal, give thambulam and do all the good things they asked me not to keep the kalasam. also i enquired some of them what they said is if it is not in the cutom it is better to skip it ....... hope am not confusing u.... ok enough of confusing u.bye bye.

love
shree

 

Hi gvi,

Regarding 'mann bommais' the 'Komala vilas' restaurant in sunnyvale sells them, I think. Last year they had a lot of bommais for sale. All traditional ones like you get in India. I noticed you are in the bay area so you could see if they have what you are looking for.
I remember setting up 'golu' in India - it was good fun. Can't do it here as we are in an apartment with little space.

Hope this helps..
Mythraeyi

 

Dear Mom,
Thanks.
I will let you know once avarathri starts.

Love
Birraj

 

Dear Shree,
I am sorry about your hard situation you had gone through. My MIL does not like me keeping golu. This year I will ask my parents and IL's and also discuss with my sastrigal. Thanks for your information.

Love
Birraj

 

dear birraj,

hey thats a wonderful decision what u took. anyway all the best. let everything happen in the positive way.

love
shree

 

Hi Kurunji,

If you see Michael crafts, they carry the artificial leaves which you can put on the floor as a grass; or, take some grass from outside and pour it densely; or, dip the sago in green rangoli mixed with slight water or take coconut powder and pour it on the floor. Though it does not give the best effect of grass, will be ok. For tree, you can buy the broccoli or spinach or coriander leaves or small branches from any trees around yr house!!

Tried out sprouting seeds too, but, carrying mud from outside in the cold, a big messy job. Also, heard from an aunty telling that one should not sprout mustard at home, that too for a festival. Otherwise, methi or coriander or ragi will take some time. Methi is little better.

Since there is no sunlight or air, the sand will stay still; you can sprinkle very little amt of water for the plant. One time, the sprout came out very fast and had to remove some of them. Very unpredictable, no.. But, it is better to call the people when it is all done and fresh; that is what I do. If you wait until saraswathi pooja, it may not stay, remember.

 

Dear All
THis is such an informative and useful thread and discussion. i too experienced koolu etc growing up but have not continued it now. Please forgive me for asking a dumb question, but why do we keep kollu? what are we supposed to observe during navrathri? please forgive my silly question. thanks

 

Few Navarathri Kolu links

Dear ILites,
Few links for the kolu arrangement.. Hope they are useful for your navarathri celebration...

Kaadu on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Navaratri - display of dolls (kolu) at home