Navarathri celebrations become a costly affair for city women

Navarathri or kolu as it is known in Tamil Nadu is incomplete without the sundals (one variety for each day for all nine days) and the return gifts to the visitors, who come to have a glimpse of the display. Gifts come in various sizes and budgets. One cannot rule out the traditional vethala paaku and a fruit or two (mostly a couple of bananas or a sweet lime). Let’s not forget the colourful and ethnic blouse pieces, bangles, earrings and hair bands or hair clips. 

Fridays are one of the busiest days during Navarathri, says N Chithra, a homemaker in T Nagar, who is all set to welcome an array of guests in all age-groups. She has scoured through all the big and small shops in the vicinity to buy gifts for her guests. 

She says she spends close to Rs 10,000 by the end of the 9-day festival. “I have bought 30 blouse pieces, earrings of all sizes for the children and fancy sets of artificial jewellery for some of her close friends. 

Apart from these, I have bought some plastic and decorative items to be given away. Fruits and flowers account for more than Rs. 1000. The stock of all these must be replenished time and again. Again it is another thousand rupees for Ayudha Puja and Vijayadasami,” she adds.

Chithra’s kolu is a moderate display comprising five steps that have a mix of old and new dolls. “Just to set up the stand and dismantling it later I have bargained a sum of Rs 700 with the carpenter. Lighting arrangements are taken care by my family members. So, I am saved of the job of dealing with an electrician too,” she adds with a laugh. 

Though it’s a low-key celebration this year, my expenses have crossed Rs 5,000, points out Jayashree S. “Medium-sized dolls are sold anywhere between Rs 500 to 1,000. If you go for sets, it costs nothing less than a 1000. For the sundal in the evening every day, you to buy a variety of pulses - karamani, motcha kottai, kadalai and peas. It comes to another Rs 1000. On Sarawathi puja, I am expecting close to 20 people. So, we cannot cut down on the expenses,” she says. 

Rama and Vasanthi, residents of Mylapore, always believe in a big and grand kolu. Their kolu  is spread over six rooms. Though it has a display of dolls from the market, it features several handmade ones by Vasanthi. But they say they manage to maintain the grandeur economically. 

“Every year, we have visitors who are curious to look at our huge display. This year too we have many teeming in, after they heard about us. As far as our return gifts are concerned, we restrict it to the simple vethala paaku for all,” says Rama. 

Revathi M, who has been celebrating kolu for over 20 years now, has something unique to say about the festival. 

"Earlier, it used to be a family affair. We lived in joint families and saved a lot on hiring labour from outside. But now with nuclear families, we need to delegate the work to carpenters and electricians and it costs a bomb," she concludes.