01The prince who judged
The Kumaoni ballads, the jagar, sing of Golu as the son of a Katyuri king, Jhal Rai, by a queen whom the other queens hated. They put the newborn in a cage and threw him in the river; a fisherman raised him. As a boy he rode a wooden horse to the river where the queens bathed and told them his horse would drink. When they laughed, he asked how a woman could give birth to a stone, as they had claimed his mother had. The king heard, learned the truth and gave him his place. Golu became known for his justice, and after his death the hills began to worship him as a god who hears every wrong.
02Bells and petitions
The walk up to the shrine at Chitai runs under a roof of bells, from thumb-size to ones that need two hands to lift, hung by people whose prayers were answered. Letters are pinned and tied everywhere. White is Golu’s colour; he is shown in white on a white horse. Couples come to marry before him, and new brides are brought for his blessing. Golu has other important shrines at Champawat, Ghorakhal and Bhowali, but Chitai near Almora is the best known.
About 8 km from Almora on the Pithoragarh road. The bell walk is short; the shrine is busiest on Sundays and Navratri.
