Madurai, September 29, 2013: A grand ‘golu’ has been planned at the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here as part of the Navarathri celebrations.

For the third consecutive year, the ‘Mylapore Trio’ – S Surendranath, S Amarnath and S Aparna – who runs Sri Sumukhi Rajasekharan Memorial Foundation in Chennai, has been invited to arrange the ‘golu’ on the theme of ‘Sarvam Bhakthi Mayam’. “The theme explains that ‘Bhakthi’ or devotion and spirituality can be found anywhere and everywhere,” said Mr. Amarnath.

The ‘golu’ will be arranged by the three and three of their students across 16 bays that have been set up using flex boards and wooden planks on one side of the second corridor near the sanctum sanctorum of the Goddess.

More than 800 dolls depicting various stories and explaining the theme have been procured from idol sellers from various places, including Cuddalore, Puducherry, Kancheepuram, Chennai and Kolkatta.

“We start thinking about a theme at least five months before the season begins and put down the ideas and brainstorm. Advance planning is necessary since we need to start procuring the dolls to explain the theme. We start our work on setting up the ‘golu’ in the temple at least 10 days in advance,” said Mr. Amarnath.

The three, famous in Chennai for the elaborate ‘golu’ they put up at home every year, conduct workshops before Navarathri on the significance of doll arrangement and the nuances of themes and decorations related to the festival.

“There is so much that children and adults can learn from a ‘golu’. In a themed arrangement like this, there are many stories and nuances that can be explained and we have been open to the idea of school and college students visiting it in daytime during Navarathri,” said S. Surendranath.

According to temple sources, over five lakh people visited the temple during the Navarathri season last year. This time, the celebrations which include special poojas and abhishekams for the main deities are scheduled to take place between October 5 and October 14.

Source: The Hindu, September 29, 2013