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Navarathri Golu at Kumbakonam

Kumbakonam - the temple town of the South. This town is well known for its Shaivaite and Vaishnavaite temples. These temples are famous for their deities, the holy theertham (water) as well as the sacred spot where they are situated.

Many temples including those dedicated to Aadi Kumbeswarar, Abhi Mukeswarar, Kalahasteeshwarar, Varadaraja Perumal, Vedanarayana Perumal, Ashtadevi Chamundeeshwari Ambal, Ramasami Koil, Kannika Paremeshwari and Kasi Vishwanathar are celebrating the festival with great pomp and splendour. Navarathri is the festival dedicated to Amman and each of the nine nights are dedicated to one particular avatar of the Goddess.

According to the Shiva purana, Sathi devi Parvathi unfortunate death occured due to the sacrifice done by Dhatchan. At this, the grieving Shiva, took her body in his hands and danced his 'rudra thaandava' and made even the Heavens shake with his intensity.

At this, Lord Vishnu took the limp body of Parvathi from Shiva's hands and chopped it to pieces using his weapon, the Chakra Ayudha and threw the pieces in all directions. The spots where these pieces fell are considered to be scared to Shakti - there are 51 such places in India. A few examples of these are those dedicated to Naynadevi, Sindha Poornadevi, Jwalamukhi, Vajreshwari, Vaishnodevi, Chamundadevi, Manasadevi, Sagumbaridevi and Kalikaji.

The festival of Navarathri is very dear to the Devi. Every aspect of this festival is an embodiment of the Devi. This festival is an example of how much affection She has on all living beings. Navarathri is just to show this to the world.

This festival is celebrated with much gaiety not just in temples, but in homes as well. Both the temples and homes are bedecked with the golu dolls. Every evening, women and children visit each other's homes and admire the golu. It is the custom to serve the specially prepared sundal to the guests. They also in turn, invite the women of the house with turmeric and kumkum. Thus inviting women and children is considered equivalent to inviting the Goddess herself.

Towards the evening, the many temples of Kumbakonam are frequented by men, women and children, who visit on these particular nine nights to get the blessings of the Goddess.

In Tamil: V.Krishnan
Translated into English by Lavanya

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