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Navaratri Golu
In Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states, homes set out tiered displays of dolls and women visit each other in silk sarees.
What is worn for Navaratri Golu
In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, Navaratri is marked at home with the golu (Tamil) or bommala koluvu (Telugu): an odd number of steps built from boards or boxes, filled with dolls of gods, people and village scenes. Each evening women and girls call on each other, sing devotional songs and are given a gift of turmeric, kumkum, a coconut, a fruit and often a blouse piece or a small saree, together called thamboolam. Visitors dress well, and the silk saree, typically a Kanchipuram or a Mysore silk, is the usual choice. Sundal, a savoury snack of boiled pulses, is handed round.
Also part of it, and being written: Kanchipuram sari (The heavy South Indian silk often worn for golu visits and puja evenings.), Mysore silk (Light crepe silk with a zari border, popular in Karnataka for the same occasions.).
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Golu (festival)" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.