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

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

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.

Golu dolls in animated set up arranged as part of Navaratri celebrations at Thirukovilur Kolu in Kolathur | Photo Credit: UMESH KUMAR V

“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.

Usha Mahalingam showcases a kolu display themed on the Ayodhya Ram Temple at her residence, entirely handmade with cardboards, in Nanganallur, Chennai, during this Navaratri. | Photo Credit: UMESH KUMAR V

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 .