Navratri kolu in Coimbatore: Doctor sets and dancing dolls take centre stage

The stars of any kolu are the gods and goddesses. The best spots on the steps are reserved for Lakshmi, Durga, and Saraswati. But sharing space with them and holding their own, are human beings and animals. These dolls let artisans truly unleash their creative best. Poompuhar’s Kolu Exhibition 2026 is testament to this. Artisans from Coimbatore’s Selvapuram and Thanjavur have displayed their latest creations at the event, the highlight of which are snapshots from Tamil Nadu’s streets: think cotton candy sellers, vegetable and tea shops.

Every year, R Suganya’s family of clay artisans from Selvapuram comes up with new concepts for kolu sets. “This season, we’ve introduced juice and flower shops,” she says. The palm-size flower shop is an adorable blue square in which hang colourful garlands. A woman dressed in salwar-kameez stands nearby, holding a bouquet of roses while a man is next to her, a garland suspended on his arm.

The juice shop set is of similar size and features square juice dispensers. Here too, a couple awaits, frozen with their drinks in hand. There are stern-looking policemen in khakis and women in saris carrying firewood. Suganya also has a small collection of tribal figurines in clay shaped by hand without using moulds. “These dolls require painstaking work,” points out Suganya, who has been participating in Poompuhar’s exhibitions for 25 years.

Her father and grandfather have been making clay and paper mache dolls in their unit in Selvapuram ever since she can remember. “This year, we made around 50,000 dolls,” she says. Wedding sets with the bride and groom surrounded by their relatives have been around for years. “We want to offer something new other than the traditional,” she says. Boxing sets is their latest addition. It features two men in shorts and sleeveless T-shirts facing each other, their boxing gloves on. The referee hovers nearby holding a whistle; there even is a miniature cup for the winner.

The carrom set too has a cup for the winner and Suganya says the idli shop set is yet another new addition. “Classroom sets, in which children are seated in front of a blackboard are quite popular and this year, we did an outdoor classroom in which students are seated under a tree,” she adds. Doctor sets and sport-themed sets are aplenty, with a cute bunch of boys engaged in a game of goli; another one in which women play pallankuzhi.

Nearby, there is a section for dolls from Thanjavur. The GI-tagged uruttu bommai (roly-poly dolls) are stunning, with a new line in which a single doll features both the male and female on each side. The exhibition has a special section for smooth and shiny wooden toys from Channapatna and Etikoppaka.

It also makes space for upcoming artisans such as K Vanathi from Nachipalayam in Tiruppur. She has brought a small collection of clay dolls, each of which she shaped on her potter’s wheel at home. “I started making terracotta jewellery following YouTube tutorials five years ago, and gradually started making clay dolls as well,” she says. Do pause to admire her kitchen sets, coconut trees, horses, and houses.

SK Pearls and Crafts, which is located in a nearby building, has its own fan following. What sets their kolu dolls apart is near perfection in terms of finish and features. “We source our dolls from select artisans in Puducherry, Chidambaram, Cuddalore and Kanchipuram,” says S Kannan, who owns the store that has another branch in Sulur. “Our customers are spread across the globe, and we get people from the US and Canada who stop by every year to buy from us,” he adds.

Kannan is a stickler for perfection. For him, every pair of eyes, every stroke of paint on a doll has to be spot on. Which is why he picks artisans who are able to deliver. “We give them orders through the year; sometimes, customers ask for specific poses or themes, for which we work closely with the artisans,” he says, adding that for this season, they made dolls based on a sculpture on a pillar at the Perur Patteswarar Temple.

SK Pearls has an interesting wedding procession set in which the bride is seated in a palanquin with the groom walking ahead with the rest of the party. Their paper mache dolls from Maharashtra featuring women and goddesses are exquisite in terms of detailing. The jewellery, makeup and their zari bordered saris are true to life.

Apart from its religious aspect, Navaratri is also a celebration of the craftsmanship of skilled artisans, that surely deserves a pedestal like the steps of kolu.

Poompuhar is located at No 1239, Big Bazaar Street, beside Clock Tower. Call 6374477600. SK Pearls and Crafts is at Lalitha Complex, 32/9, Big Bazaar Street & Defence Colony, Sulur. Call 9944774747