Navaratri 2026: Beyond the traditional kolu — Chennai’s kolu displays explore new themes

Navratri often begins months before the nine-day festival, with hours spent researching, planning, and painstakingly creating themed kolu displays. Moving beyond the traditional arrangement of dolls on steps, these displays now showcase miniature worlds that bring temple architecture to life, spotlight lesser-known deities, and explore stories rooted in mythology.

The annual kolu is not just a festive tradition, but has also become an expression of creativity, devotion and a passion for storytelling.

Over the years, themed kolus have turned more opulent with over-the-top displays by commercial organisations. This year, SPR India, a real-estate organisation from Perambur is trying to be the record holder of the world’s tallest kolu at a staggering height of 47.8 feet with over 4,500 dolls on display. They took three months to put the display together and are attempting to break a record set in 2012 at 36.4-feet.

There is also the famous Navaratri Thirukovilur in Kolathur, a temple dedicated to the festival, with a display of 4,000-odd dolls. This year, L Gajendran, the organiser at the temple, says that they have three animated set-ups where gods whizz and whirr.

“One can catch Lord Murugan touring the world while Ganesha walks around his parents Shiva and Parvathi. There is one display where Ganesha is doing a continious paal abishekam too. It is incredible to come up with a theme and these displays every year. Our carpenters and mechanics get started at least two months in advance,” he says. Around 5,000 people visit the temple everyday during Navaratri, he remarks.

Meanwhile, some of the most creative golus are done at home with a collection that involves a thoughtful mix of the old and new.

Take for instance, Usha Mahalingam, a 65-year-old homemaker from Nanganallur. For her, recreating temples as miniature models has become an integral part of her Navratri kolu since 2009. Over the years, she has built replicas of several divya kshetrams or pilgrimages, including the ones at Puri Jagannath, Madurai Meenakshi, Palani and Tirupati, creating not only the temples but also their surrounding settings. Usha has also built a kolu themed on European Christmas markets and festivals of India in the past.

This year, her kolu centres on the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Although she has not visited the temple in person, Usha has researched its architecture and watched videos to understand its details. She has paid particular attention to the lighting, working to recreate the way light falls on the deity’s face.

Her preparations began in June, when she started work on the main mantapam. Building the miniature temple and its surroundings is a laborious process, but one that she finds deeply fulfilling. “The work completely done by hand gives me peace,” she says. The appreciation she receives from visitors makes the effort worthwhile.

While Usha turns her attention to temple architecture, Shilpa Mitha, who runs Sueno Souvenir where she makes miniature food creations with clay, plans to take her audience to the land of the rising sun: Japan. “Since I specialise in miniatures of food, I have planned a display of dolls eating ramens, gyozas, and the likes. The figurines have to assume different positions too: where they eat, and perform other actions. It is why I ended up making the hands and legs too,” she says, adding that this is part of a larger kolu display at her home. As always, cars end up finding a spot in the grand scheme of things. This year, at the AVM Studios in Vadapalani, has a host of beautiful cars on display besides their kolu. Placed at the centre is a miniature of the iconic globe at AVM Studios too.

Gopalapuram resident Nirmala Ashok uses her kolu to explore stories and traditions associated with deities who may be less familiar to visitors. Last year, her display explored Naari Shakthi (women’s power), featuring powerful female deities such as Kolkata’s Kali and Samayapuram’s Mariamman. This year, she has chosen the theme ‘lesser-known Gods of Tamil Nadu’. After extensive research, she developed representations of deities such as Madurai Veeran, Sapthakannikaigal, Ayyanar and Muneeswaran, along with other village deities and kaaval deivangal (village guardians).

Having a central theme gives the display a clear direction and helps her narrate a story through the arrangement, she says. It also offers visitors an opportunity to learn about unfamiliar deities or look at familiar traditions from a different perspective.

For Rajalakshmi Shankar, 56, a social science teacher who handles Classes VI to VIII, the annual kolu is an opportunity to combine mythology and creativity. This year, her theme is moksham (salvation). She has displayed a handcrafted Shivalingamm surrounded by saints and celestial beings who were once cursed to take the form of animals and birds. Later, they are given moksham by praying to Lord Shiva. Last year her theme was, enn ragasiyam (secret of numbers), through which she explored numerical concepts using kolu dolls and mythological references.

“The process demands considerable planning. I spend nearly nine months preparing for the theme, and am driven by the creative possibilities that a new theme offers. For example two years ago, I took up the theme of Singaara Chennai,” says Rajalakshmi, who has explored around 14 different themes over the years, and and showcases them all during the festival.

Priya Ravi, a longtime resident of Kodambakkam, has reimagined her Golu display in recent years. Once spread across two rooms, her extensive collection has been considerably pared down, with many dolls given away. “I have collected a significant number of brass figurines and idols of gods and goddesses, including the Dasavatharam, Ashtalakshmi and Navagrahas. This year, the spotlight is on Lord Ganesha. After collecting brass figurines and divine idols for over three decades, I am planning to thematically present 200 Ganesha idols, and the mythological stories associated with each image,” says Priya.