Parle vying for a place in Guinness Book of World Records
Posted on: 23/Sep/2011 7:44:59 AM
Parle Products, India’s largest biscuits and confectionary brand, is all set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. Parle’s Golu Galata will become the first and only festival where over 1 lakh Golu Dolls will be present at one place in Chennai.
Over the last six years, Parle has been at the forefront of trying to revive the dying tradition of Golu Dolls prepared by people in Tamil Nadu during the Navratri festival. This year, Parle has asked all participants to come together to participate in community Golu by displaying their Golus at a common location in Chennai’s Island Grounds during the festival. More than 1 lakh people are expected to participate – creating a world record. The officials from the Guinness Book of World Records have also given their confirmation to attend and record the feat at the event.
GOLU, also known as “Navaratri Golu”, is celebrated actively during nine days of Navaratri festival in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pardesh and Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, traditionally, women decorate various dolls (called Golus/Kolus) made of clay during Navratri celebrations by setting up odd number steps and keeping Golus on it. This display is well decorated and friends and relatives are invited to witness the same. Through a detailed research, Parle found that due to time pressures, this tradition is slowly dying and is getting restricted to a select few households. Thus, to revive the fading/dying tradition, Parle introduced this novel promotion called Parle Golu Galata contest in 2005. Golu means Doll & Galata means festival/Carnival/Dhammal.
Speaking on the impending achievement for Parle, Mr. Mayank Shah, Group Product Manager, Parle Products said, “It is a proud moment for us to be able to get to this rare record. When we started the Golu Galata Festival our aim was to make the youth revisit our age old customs and traditions. More than the achievement of a record, being able to view over one lakh Golu Dolls at one place showcases the fact that we have been able to create awareness among the youth of Tamil Nadu about this festival.”
In addition to auditing Parle’s record feat, the official from Guinness Book of World Records will also be presenting the prizes for the best dolls on the ninth day of the event.
Parle is also working on involving students from schools across the state to participate in the event, like the previous years. During the month Parle is also planning to organize several promotional activities to generate a buzz around the event.
In fact, the company has also created a special website – www.parlegolugalata.com– for the event. The site is a one stop destination to inform everyone about the initiative and its developments.
