A casting day at the foundry
The pour takes a few minutes, but the day starts before dawn. Here is what happens on a casting day in Swamimalai.
Bringing a bronze home for Navaratri
How families choose a bronze for the golu steps and the pooja room, and the dates to order by.
In the weeks before Navaratri, our shop fills with families looking for a new figure to add to the golu steps, or for a Lakshmi, Saraswathi or Durga to sit at the centre of the pooja room through the nine nights.
For golu, small solid copper and bronze pieces of 4 to 6 inches suit the upper steps, where they are seen up close. Many families add one piece each year, so the collection grows with the children. Brass pieces of 8 to 12 inches suit the lower steps and stand out among the clay dolls. A seated Saraswathi with a veena, a Lakshmi on a lotus and a dancing Krishna are the pieces we sell most in September.
If you want a piece from the shop floor, come or message us by mid-August; popular forms go quickly, and each is one of one. A commission of 9 inches or less needs at least eight weeks, so order before the end of July for Navaratri. We will not rush a casting; a hurried pour is how air pockets and cracks happen.
On Saraswathi Puja, many customers place new bronzes beside their books and instruments before using them in daily worship. If you want a piece consecrated at your temple, ask us for a bare, unpolished finish, which some priests prefer for the first abhishekam. We will pack it with a cotton wrap that can go straight onto the pooja shelf.
