Navaratri / Golu

Dolls arranged on an odd number of steps (3, 5, 7, 9, or 11), set up on the first day. Deities on top, saints and historical figures in the middle, village scenes and the household marapachi dolls at the base.

Each of the nine evenings, a different sundal — lightly spiced boiled legumes — is prepared, offered first to the Golu deities, then distributed to visitors. Chickpea, black-eyed pea, peanut, mung dal, brown chana, cowpea, dried green peas, split yellow peas, and chickpea-with-coconut are common rotations.

Friends, neighbors, and family visit each other's Golu through the nine evenings. Visitors sing a devotional song, drink filter coffee or buttermilk, and leave with a thamboolam — a small gift of betel leaves, betel nut, kumkum, a fruit, and (for older married women) a small blouse-piece.

On the ninth night, books, instruments, and the tools of one's profession are placed at the altar to be blessed by Saraswati, the goddess of learning, music, and arts. The puja closes with a lengthy reading of Saraswati stotras.

On the tenth morning, the books and instruments left at the altar overnight are reverently retrieved with a short puja. Children formally beginning their education (Vidyarambham) are guided by an elder to write their first letters in a tray of rice.