Navaratri and Golu in Chennai: Nine Nights of Dolls, Sundal and the Goddess

What Navaratri means in Chennai

Navaratri (நவராத்திரி, “nine nights”) in the Tamil month of Purattasi (September–October) honours the goddess in three forms: Durga for the first three nights, Lakshmi for the next three, Saraswati for the last three. North India has its Garba dancing and Ramlila; Bengal has Durga Puja; Tamil Nadu has the Golu (கொலு), a display of dolls on steps, and nine evenings of visiting. The festival ends with Saraswati Puja, Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami.

Dates follow the lunar calendar; Navaratri usually begins in late September or the first half of October. The next dates for Chennai are in the box above.

The Golu

A Golu is built on an odd number of steps — three, five, seven, nine or more — covered in cloth. A kalasam (a brass pot with coconut and mango leaves) sits on the top step with the main deities; below come the other gods, the saints and Alvars, scenes from the epics, and then everyday life: a village with its well and bullock cart, a wedding procession, a market, a cricket match, sometimes a Chennai Metro train. Families add a doll or two every year, so a Golu can hold heirlooms a century old next to this year’s purchase. A small park of grass grown from seed, a Chettiar shopkeeper couple with their tiny baskets of real grains, and a pair of wooden marapachi dolls are almost compulsory.

Visiting a Golu

Evenings are for visiting. Neighbours, friends and relatives drop in, admire the display, and someone — usually a child, however reluctant — sings a song before the steps. Guests leave with a packet of sundal and, for married women, a thamboolam: betel leaves and nut, a blouse piece, kumkum and turmeric. Nobody needs a formal invitation; if you are told “come and see our Golu”, that is it. Visitors from abroad are especially welcome, and the hosts will explain each doll. Three or four homes in an evening is normal.

Many temples and institutions put up public Golus: Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore, several of the Mylapore and Mandaveli maths and schools, and department stores and clubs in T. Nagar and Adyar, so even without a host you can see a dozen displays in an evening’s walk.

Where to buy dolls

From mid-September the Mada streets around Kapaleeshwarar fill with pavement stalls of painted clay and papier-mâché dolls; Pondy Bazaar in T. Nagar and the lanes of Kosapet, where many of the doll-makers work, are the other sources. Prices start very low for small clay figures; large sets and the wooden marapachi cost more. Clay travels badly, so diaspora buyers tend to carry a few small pieces in hand luggage, well wrapped, and leave the big ones for the family home in Chennai.

Goddess temples to visit

• Ashtalakshmi Temple, Besant Nagar — eight forms of Lakshmi beside the sea; crowded every evening of the nine, with a special emphasis on the middle three nights.
• Mundakakanni Amman, Mylapore, and Kalikambal, George Town — the city’s best-loved Amman temples, with nightly alankaram (a different dress of the goddess each evening).
• Kamakshi Amman, Mangadu on the western edge of the city, and the great Kamakshi Amman Temple at Kanchipuram, 75 km away, where Navaratri is the festival of the year.
• Kapaleeshwarar’s goddess Karpagambal receives her own nine nights of special pujas.

The city’s Bengali associations, in T. Nagar and elsewhere, put up Durga Puja pandals over the last four days, with the immersion on Vijayadashami — a different Navaratri a few streets away.

The last two days

The ninth day is Saraswati Puja and Ayudha Puja: books, instruments and tools are placed before the goddess, autos and offices are decorated and the ash gourd is smashed. The tenth is Vijayadashami, when children begin new learning and, in the evening, one Golu doll is laid down to sleep before the display is packed away the next day. Both days are public holidays. Our Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami guide covers them in detail.

Sundal and what to eat

Sundal is Navaratri’s snack: a different legume each night — chickpeas, black-eyed peas, green gram, peanuts, dried peas — boiled and tossed with mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilli and fresh coconut. Sweet pongal, payasam and vadai appear at the evening puja. Many families eat vegetarian for the nine days, and the sweet shops of Mylapore and T. Nagar sell gift boxes for the hosts you visit.

Tips

• Evenings, 6 to 9 pm, are Golu time. Daytime visits are unusual.
• Bring something small — flowers, fruit or a sweet box — and be ready to sing a line if asked; a verse of anything devotional will do.
• Dress: traditional dress is appreciated but not required; modest clothing for temples.
• Weather: the end of the hot season, with the north-east monsoon about to arrive — warm, humid evenings and the odd downpour. See the weather guide.
• Diaspora planning: a trip spanning Navaratri and Deepavali (two to four weeks later) is a classic autumn visit. Check the calendar for both.

Frequently asked questions