The Biggest Golu Displays

Golu/Kolu doll displays for Navratri are a South Indian thing and I’ve become connected to the tradition because nearly all the other Hindus I know are South Indian and most of the communities are participate in are South Indian.

I love this tradition. I love having something to collect and a purpose for it. I love thinking up themes and displaying my collection. I look forward to someday sharing this tradition with my children and having them help me pick themes and make dolls.

Today I wanted to learn about some of the largest displays there have ever been.

Here’s an image from a display of 69,000 dolls that won a Guiness World Record:

Here’s one with a separate tableaux for 12 different emotional states:

Some more impressive displays!

Some say that originally the steps represented the levels of consciousness, so low consciousness creatures were displayed at the bottom and it moved up the chain to human beings and Gods.

Next week I’ll show you my golu display in my brand new house! 😀