Navarathri 2009

One more Navarathri all done with and my first one with proper steps too! Yes, this time I bulldozed my husband into making the steps so that we didn’t have to rely on our assortment of tables, books and boxes.

So I started off searching for instructions online on how to make the steps. I know a lot of people have managed to buy the required stuff and somehow make steps that can be assembled and disassembled, but nobody unfortunately has put up proper instructions on how to do it.

So ladeej and gentleman who struggle every year with dabbas and such to make your golu steps..  idho choodungo.. the idiot’s guide to golu padikkatu..

Side view 1

Front View

Golu steps completed

Decide on the number of steps – Remember you cannot randomly change that once you buy this stuff.

1. Go to the nearest Menards, Home Depot or Lowe’s and take yourself there in a mini-van or SUV.
2. Ask for stair risers – you have different ones available depending on the number of steps you need. Those would make the 2 sides. Ours was wide enough to need a third one in the middle.
3. For the steps themselves, you could buy stair stingers (which are expensive) or you could just buy similar planks in any other kind of cheaper wood. We ended up buying 2×4x8 planks for the steps.
4. Your top step needs support – so buy it some legs – I am not sure about the dimensions but we picked some up from the clearance section and then after assembling the steps, measured and cut it to the right length.
5. Also get some deck screws – they have many options for this, but the cheapest deck screw would do.
6. Assemble as shown below – we screwed only every alternative step, the other just rested fine without any screws required.
7. Unscrew to disassemble.

During my trip to India last December, I bought a whole bunch of new dolls for the golu. I added a Lakshmi Hayagreevar statue, a couple doing the Dandia, a set of musicians playing different instruments, a wedding set, and a set of fairies (Tinker bell and friends).

Golu 2009

The placement of dolls was quite challenging. I am the kind of person, that likes things to be simple and clean. Once the five steps were built and the cloth wrapped on it, we unwrapped all the dolls – and I realized over the past few years when I had not done my golu shopping in India, I had accumulated quite a few boring and non-essential dolls. I decided I would only put up the ones that I could compartmentalize and organize with my nice ones. I am not at all a random person – and I would never be able to get myself to put a bunch of unrelated dolls together. So, my logic was let’s put all the Gods together (like they are going to give each other company or something) on the two steps, and then let’s put all the nice ones in the middle step and the miscellaneous ones in the 4th step. The last step was reserved for small items that need precision in placement and my daughter’s toys. We recently bought her a Tinker bell set of fairies and I decided to use those rather than the stuffed toys I had put up last year. For the Tinker Bell set, I had grandoise plans to repliacte Pixie Hollow, but somehow couldn’t find the time to get all of it done. We tried to grow some vegetation, but as usual we were too late to see any green before the golu started, so I had to make do with some artificial vegetation. Next year, I am definitely going to make something more creative, like a forest or a zoo or park or a carnival – we’ll see if I can keep my promise.

We also did celebarate Saraswati Pooja and Ayudha Pooja with full enthusiasm. Pictures below…

Saraswathi Pooja

Ayudha Pooja

Belated Navarathri wishes everybody and looking forward to Deepavali now!

The Sundal Plan

Its officially Navarathri season again, and it’s about time I start making the run for the best date and time that I should have people over. I have got to admit that even though only about 3 or 4 of my friends have their own golus, its still quite a scramble to try and fix up the right date and time so that the 3 or 4 can make it to my place. In a way it’s rather unfair on my part to expect them to show up. After all they are the ones that will have 40-50 people show up for golu and they have to travel an hour each way even to see my doorstep. Still worse is the fact, that my golu is going one level down this year – as in – I am moving my golu to the kutti room in our basement between the furnace and the treadmill. In fact, may be I should set it up on the treadmill. That will atleast give me a small use for the $700 and 5′ x 3′ floor space in our basement that it costs. I would have preferred it upstairs where there is more space and light, but with my dear little tornado zipping around the house, I dont think I will have much of a golu left 10 mins after I set it up. So off I go, to get started preparing for the pre-golu preparations.. Ciao