Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami in Chennai: What Happens and Where to See It

What the two days mean

Ayudha Puja (ஆயுத பூஜை, “worship of instruments”) falls on Mahanavami, the ninth day of Navaratri. In Tamil Nadu it doubles as Saraswati Puja: the goddess of learning is honoured, and books, musical instruments and tools are placed before her and not touched until the next morning. The idea is simple and very Tamil — whatever you earn your living with deserves thanks once a year.

Vijayadashami (விஜயதசமி, “the tenth day of victory”) follows. It marks the goddess Durga’s victory over Mahishasura and, in the north, Rama’s over Ravana. In Chennai the mood is less about effigies and more about beginnings: it is the traditional day to start anything new — a child’s first lesson (Vidyarambham or Aksharabhyasam), a music class, a business venture, a new vehicle.

What you will see on the streets

Ayudha Puja is the one festival that happens mostly outdoors, at work. From early morning:

• Vehicles decorated. Autos, taxis, buses and lorries are washed, garlanded with marigolds, dotted with sandal paste and kumkum and often fitted with banana stalks at the front. Many drivers run a lemon under each tyre before the first trip.
• Shops and offices close early. A puja is performed in the shop, usually mid-morning, with a small lamp, flowers and the day’s accounts or main tools in front of the deity. Staff share sweets and sundal afterwards. Expect many businesses, including IT offices, to be shut or on a half day.
• The pumpkin. An ash gourd (poosanikai) smeared with kumkum and camphor is smashed on the road outside, to take away the evil eye. You will see the pieces everywhere by noon.
• Kolam and banana leaves at doorways, and strings of mango leaves across gates.

Vijayadashami morning is quieter and gentler: families at temples with small children, teachers’ homes busy with new pupils, and in the evening the Golu dolls (see below) are formally put to sleep.

Where to go

Any busy neighbourhood works for the street scene — the auto stands of Mylapore and Triplicane, the shop rows of T. Nagar, the bus terminus at Broadway. For temples:

• Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Mylapore — Navaratri Golu display and large crowds on both days.
• Ashtalakshmi Temple, Besant Nagar — a goddess temple by the sea, very busy through Navaratri.
• Mundakakanni Amman and Kalikambal — two of the city’s best-loved Amman (goddess) shrines.
• Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane, and Venkateswara Temple, T. Nagar — both typically hold Vidyarambham for children on Vijayadashami morning; check the notice board the day before.

Music and dance schools across the city, including Kalakshetra in Besant Nagar, admit new students on Vijayadashami. If you have a child with you, a teacher will usually be happy to guide a first letter traced in a plate of rice.

Golu dolls and sundal

Through the nine nights many homes set up a Golu: an odd number of steps covered in cloth and crowded with dolls — gods, saints, village scenes, a cricket team. Visitors are invited in the evenings, sing a song and leave with sundal (a spiced legume snack) and, for women, a blouse piece, betel leaves and kumkum. Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami are the last two Golu evenings, so if you have an invitation, go. On Vijayadashami night one doll is laid down to “sleep” and the display is packed away the next day.

The dolls themselves are sold on the Mada streets around Kapaleeshwarar, in Pondy Bazaar and at the doll-makers’ lanes of Kosapet in the weeks before Navaratri. Clay figures are fragile but light; many diaspora visitors carry a few home in hand luggage.

What to eat

Sundal is the taste of the season: chickpeas, green gram, peanuts or black-eyed peas tempered with mustard, curry leaves and coconut, a different one each night. Ayudha Puja adds sweet pongal, vadai and payasam at the office puja. Sweet shops are at full stretch for the gift boxes people take to employers and teachers.

Tips for visitors and the diaspora

• Both days are public holidays in Tamil Nadu. Government offices, most shops and many restaurants close on Ayudha Puja; traffic is light and autos scarce around noon. Vijayadashami is busier.
• Start something. Diaspora families often time a trip so a child’s Vidyarambham happens at a family temple. Ask the temple office a day ahead; a small fee and a plate of rice or a slate are usually all that is needed.
• Watch the pumpkin. Smashed gourds and camphor make roads slippery for an hour or two; mind your step near shopfronts.
• Dress modestly for temples (shoulders and knees covered) and carry small change for the flower sellers outside.
• Weather: early to mid-October is the tail of the hot season with the north-east monsoon about to begin, so expect humidity and the odd downpour. See the month-by-month weather guide.
• Timings are the temple’s own and shift a little each year; the hours above are typical. Check the daily panchangam for the auspicious time (muhurtham) on the day.

Frequently asked questions