Marapachi Bommai
I was just ten years old.I was an active and studious boy.Our family was a traditional agricultural family.We lived in an old tiled house and it was nearly one hundred and fifty years old.In our remote village, the harvest festival Pongal was celebrated for four days traditionally.The first day of Pongal was Bhogi Pandigai, which was celebrated in honour of Lord Indra, the god of rains and clouds.Our family was a big joint family.There were twenty family members.There was no limit for love ,affection and fun in our family.On Bhogi Pandigai ,our family members were very busy in cleaning the old house.The house was too big to clean.So we shared the house into few parts and cleaned them.I was given to clean our grandma's small bed room.While I was cleaning the room,I noticed a large wooden box.I was very curious to know about the things that kept in the wooden box.I rushed towards our grandma and enquired her what were the things that were kept in the wooden box?.Our grandma replied that the box contained of ancient dolls which were displayed during the golu festival.My brothers and sisters were very much interested to see the ancient dolls.I requested our grandma to open the box and show the dolls.Our grandma replied that she would show the dolls only on Kanum Pongal,a day for family reunions, the final day of the four day festivals.I lingered for the opportunity.All the Pongals were celebrated in our house traditionally.Before the Pongal festivals,the house was cleaned and painted with lime.The house was designed to celebrate all the hindu festivals.It had three large courtyards.The golu festival was held in the first courtyard.The Pongal and the Kanum Pongals were held in the second and third courtyards respectively.That year the harvest of paddy was very excellent.Kanum Pongal was celebrated in a Joyful way.Most of the unmarried girls of our village got together in our house.And they prepared tamarind rice,curd rice and black channa sundal.They worshiped the sun god and feasted the variety of rice in the banana leaves.In the evening ,the most ancient dances like kummi and kolattam were performed by them.Then they got the blessings from our grandma and mother and left the house.I thought that the expected opportunity had come.I went near our grandma and requested her to open the box and show the dolls.After sometimes ,she went near the wooden box.In the meantime,my brothers and sisters crowded the wooden box.Then our grandma opened the box slowly.In the box, there were so many beautiful, coloured clay dolls and they were covered with clothes.In an instant ,we removed the clothes and saw the dolls eagerly.The vegetables merchant, dancing girl, small bullock cart, kamadhenu, goddesses, dancing siva, the various avatars of Vishnu,ganesa ,murugan,wild animals, domestic animals,birds and Thanjavur dancing golu dolls were found.Those dolls were made more than two hundred years ago.And they were not faded and they were in good conditions like the pictures of Kudumiyanmalai, a Pallava art.We were astonished to see the dolls.Our grandma said that those dolls were not bought in a single year or place.And they were the collection of different years and places.The Lingam doll was bought in Rameshwaram tour and the Murugan doll was bought in the temple of palani hills.The perumal doll and the dancing golu dolls were bought in Srirangam and Thanjavur respectively.She also said that each and every doll had its own story and history.She said that her friend Patthana,a brahmin woman had bought the domestic, wild animals and birds dolls in North India while she was going to Kasi yatra.She encouraged her to set up golu in our house in the first courtyard ,particularly in the eastern direction.The courtyard's outlet was closed and filled with river water.Red, blue, white lilies, frogs,crabs and various colors of fish were put into the water.There were ten golu steps were installed.The traditional golu dolls were displayed in the golu steps.During the navaratri festival ,Patthana visited our house for the nine auspicious days.And she was the main pillar of the golu festival.She sang a song about the goddess Durga during the festival.Though she was a brahmin woman woman ,she feasted battalion with our village girls.She paved the way for the integration of the village women.All the village women thanked for her valuable presence and participation in the golu festival.Then our grandma continue to tell about the dolls.She told that they took more care and kept them safely for so many years without any damage in the old tiled house which was affected by natural calamities frequently by the south west monsoon season.She also said that if a doll had broken it had had lost its original value.She added that the broken dolls would not be kept in the house and they would be put into the flowing river water.She further said that the golu dolls were taken and kept in the wooden box after the pooja was performed.Further more ,she said that there were certain traditional rules for conducting the golu in the house too.I also noticed a small decorated teak wooden box in the large wooden box.I asked my grandma to show the dolls that were kept in the small wooden box.Our grandma opened the small box.Inside it ,there were two Marapachi Bommai (wooden doll).And they were safely covered with an old blue silk saree.Our grandma refused us even to touch the dolls.I enquired about the traditional dolls.She said that she would tell about the dolls and their story in the evening.Then she covered the dolls with the silk saree and kept them in the small wooden box.My brothers and sisters were talked about the traditional dolls to their friends through out the day.I eagerly waited for the golden evening.My mother lit the lamps in the house and Pooja room .That was the indication of the evening.We surrounded our grandma and asked her to tell about the marapachi dolls.She asked my elder sister to bring her betal leaves box.My sister brought it along with the grass mat immediately.My siblings were ready to do any work which was assigned by our grandma at that time.My grandma sat on the green mat and we were sat around her.No wonder our heads were touched with the others heads.And we were very much interested to hear about the dolls from her aged shivering voice.She said that those dolls were bought by her great grand mother at Thirupathi, the land of seven hills of Lord Venkateswara.The marapachi dolls were specifically made of red sandalwood.And the red sandal wood was only available in the Andhra Pradesh forest particularly in the Tripathi hills.Those dolls were displayed during the golu festival in our house as a part of Navaratri,a Hindu festival.The male and female dolls were dressed as Raja(king) and Rani(queen) costumes.The vintage dolls were played an important role in our Tamilian culture and rituals.The raja and rani dolls were displayed in the first step of golu very near to the Ganesa doll during the Golu festival in our house.Navaratri was the festival display of dolls in Tamilnadu during the autumn festive season particularly around Navaratri festival, the nine auspicious nights.Those dolls were a legacy passed on from one generation to another in our house.She also said that the sixth generation was going on.Marapachi dolls were given to the first grand son or daughter traditionally.Those dolls enhanced the social and emotional development of the children particularly the female children.She continued that they kept the dolls carefully for the future generations.And she brushed down the dolls with dry cloth during the navaratri festival.She asked us to preserve the old traditional golu dolls for the betterment of the future generations.I asked our grandma to give a doll to me hesitatingly .She politely replied that my elder brother was the first grand son of the present family..If he had given permission she would have given a doll for me. No sooner I urged my elder brother to give a doll to me in future.Atlast my elder brother accepted to give a female doll for me.I was very much satisfied at that moment.Days were rolled over.Our grandma had become sick and very weak.When She was in death bed she called my elder brother to bring the small decorated wooden box.She opened the box with her shivering hands and took the male doll.She gave it to my elder brother.Then she took the female doll and gave it to me .I was very much delighted to receive the doll and became one of the joyest persons in the world.She also requested me to give the female doll to my daughter in future.I also promised her to give the doll to my daughter as per her last words .After some days ,our grandma passed away peacefully.We cried and shed tears.Twenty years had gone after the death of my grandma.I got married and my wife had given birth to a female baby..She had grown up very well.Most of my relatives said that she was resembling my grandma.I thought that my grandma was reborn in our family.When my daughter was studying first standard I had given the marapachi female doll to her.It was half feet and very heavy.She was not able to take the doll and play.I told her that the doll was given to her by the great grand mother.She wondered to hear my words.I was satisfied to keep the promise which was given to our grandma.My daughter kept the marapachi doll in the showcase and requested me to buy and give a teddy bear toy.I bought a big red teddy bear toy and presented it on her birthday.She roamed here and there in the house with the toy like a little angel.She talked to the toy when she was in good and sad moods.She kept the toy in her bed while she was sleeping.Whe she was studying in school and College,she kept it in her hostel room.She said that the toy would remove her fear,stress and loneliness.The toy made her to feel at home .Soon she became an arctophile.Now she is working in a big multinational company in Chennai as a team leader.Her age is twenty five and she is still having a teddy bear toy.Though her friends are ridiculing her but she doesn't worry about it.She is fond of having lovely toys .She is loving all visible souls too.She says that toy enhances self -confident and stimulate creativity.I never say no to her golden words.I have always seen her the incarnation of my grandma .
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