It is Navarathi time and among Palakkad Iyers the keeping of ‘kollu’ is considered an essential part of the festival.

Here is an interesting legend on the kollu contributed by one of our members.

As per Padma Purana, Sun God (Surya) is the father of Saturn (Sani). They do not get along well and Sani fights with his father, complaining that his father has no love for him and that his father does not visit him often.

Sani is the lord of Makar Rasi (Zodiac Capricorn).   In order to please his Son, to show that he truly loves his Son, Surya made a promise to Sani saying that he will visit him on the day of Makar Sankranti and stay with him for the whole month. Thus Makar Sankranti symbolizes the importance of the special relationship between a father and a son.

Importance of Toys:

When one visits children, one never goes empty handed.  You take what may please your children the most,  don’t you?   Well, so did Lord Surya.  He took along many toys during his visit to Sani’s house. To symbolize the father’s affection towards his child we keep ‘Bommalu’.  It is felt that keeping toys in the kolu pleases Sani and he showers his blessings.   Another reason for keeping ‘bommala kolu’ is to ward of Sani.

Importance of Steps: 5, 7 and 9

1) A minimum 5 steps should be maintained as these represent the five sense organs. Surya lights them up so that we can gather the right knowledge because of his prakasa;

“Hiran mayena paatrena satyaysa apihitam mukham

Pushan tvam apaavrunu satya dharma ardha dristhaye” – Isavasya upanishad 15

We pray to *Pushan* (the Sun God) to reveal the veil that is covering the ‘satya’ and ‘dharma’ so that we can ‘see’ it.  The same analogy goes with other sense organs. With out His grace we cannot get any revelations.

2) Seven steps  in kolu, symbolize the – seven horses of Lord Surya.

3) Some people keep 9 steps. The 7th step symbolizing the seven horses pulling the chariot, 8th Step symbolizing ‘Anura’ the chariot driver, and 9th step symbolizing Lord Surya Himself.

A panorama of Kollus arrangements by Palakkad Iyers scattered across the globe