The One about Navaratri – a Hindu festival: Sunday Musings #97

As I mention recently, this week has been filled with celebrations and traditional food given that we celebrated a nine day (or ten day) long Hindu festival called Navaratri (or Navratri).

Have you heard of Navaratri celebrations? Are you interested in collecting figurines? What else is happening these days with you? Let's talk. Click To Tweet

Navaratri (means 9 nights) is celebrated all over India, though the mythological story and reasons behind it differs from region to region.

We (from South India) celebrate this festival to pray to the Goddesses (of education/arts, wealth, and power, respectively) and seek their blessings. This is usually celebrated in a grand manner for the women in the family because this is mostly a matriarchal festival.

We arrange dolls (figurines) on tiers for display during the period and invite other women (from the neighborhood and family) for an evening of snacks and devotional music. Usually, these dolls are at least a hundred years because they are passed over generations.

This is our first to time celebrate Navaratri golu (arrangement of dolls) after moving to Dubai. And sadly, that means all our dolls are newly bought. My mom still showcases 100+ year old dolls at my native. Just arranging the dolls here filled me with homesickness and nostalgia.

Of course considering the current COVID situation, we didn’t entertain many guests and kept the socializing part to the minimum. So did my mother and many of my relatives, in India.

What I read this week

I finally completed reading The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner this week. And that brings me with 4 letters remaining on my A to Z reading challenge.

I am currently reading The Quiet Side of Passion by Alexander McCall Smith. And it is crazy that this is my first ever McCall Smith’s book. I will let you know how it goes for me next week.

What I watched this week

Believe it or not, this is the first time I watched the movie One flew over a cuckoo’s nest. I had been holding on to it for long, because of the “book first” motto.

But I gave in finally, because I don’t have the book and I wanted to watched Nurse Ratched on Netflix. I will let you know how it goes next week.

I also watched HBO’s Third Day and I really enjoyed it.

On my blog

In case you missed the posts from my blog, last week.

Social media for authors โ€“ Tips to build your online presence

Social media for authors Featured

10 Best books for your book club

10 Best books for book clubs Featured

Book review of The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim

The Kinship of Secrets Featured

Another week flies past: Sunday Musings #95

that blindsided me

I will be linking todayโ€™s post with Caffeinated reviewerโ€™s Sunday post Meme.

From the Insta-world

Here is what I posted on Instagram during the week. Give me a follow, will you?

Pin me!

Navaratri golu

Let us chat

Have you heard of Navaratri celebrations? Are you interested in collecting such figurines? What else is happening these days with you? Let’s talk.

19 Comments

  1. MRIDULA GUPTA

    Loved this post so much. I get really excited about Navratri.

    Reply
  2. Rachel

    I’d never heard of Navaratri, but I hope you enjoyed your celebrations! I enjoyed The Jane Austen Society in audio form. Hope you liked it, too. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  3. Yvonne

    I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of Ratched. I recently finished that series and really liked it.

    I hope you have a great week!

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I have just started watching it. Will keep you updated!

      Reply
  4. Laurel-Rain Snow

    I love dolls and figurines! I am also eyeing The Jane Austen Society, so I hope to read it soon.

    Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a great week.

    Reply
  5. Maureen @ Maureen's Books

    Navaratri sounds very nice Gayathri. I hope you enjoyed your celebrations.
    Have a great week and happy reading.

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      Thank you!

      Reply
  6. Heather

    What a wonderful festival, I hadnโ€™t heard of it. Iโ€™m sorry it was a little bittersweet for you.

    I havenโ€™t watched One Flew Over The Cuckooโ€™s Nest yet, I do have the book but as usual I have never got around to it.

    Have a good week.

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      Ha ha. Same here. I have not read the book either!

      Reply
  7. Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

    I love that the celebration is so woman-focused. How lovely! Traditions like that are great for connecting us to family and memories but that can also come with home sickness. ๐Ÿ™

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I totally agree!

      Reply
  8. Mary

    I hadn’t heard of Navaratri. Despite social distancing, I hope it was a wonderful celebration. I’ve heard of The Jane Austen Society but not read it. May have to give it a try. Stay safe and have a good week.

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      It definitely was!

      Reply
  9. Iza

    The festival looks great, I’ll look on YT to see if I can find some images, it must be beautiful, warm and serene. I have read The Jane Austen society through Netgalley, I really enjoyed it, and Alexander McCall is good too, I loved his Mma Ramotswe series. Have a great week ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I hope I enjoy it as much as you had!

      Reply
  10. jessicabookworm

    Gayathri, I hope you still enjoyed your smaller, less traditional festivities, without your family and the traditional dolls. ๐ŸŽ‰ I also hope you enjoyed reading The Jane Austen Society, as I have a copy of that I am looking forward to reading. Take care and happy reading! ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ˜ƒ

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      Thank you!

      Reply
  11. Greg

    I’m sorry you weren’t able to experience the older dolls from home. I can see where that would be sad and would make you miss home for sure! I hope you had a wonderful festival though in spite of that. and thanks for sharing your traditions!

    Love the pic of the Venetian!

    Reply
    • Gayathri

      I did and thank you for your kind words!

      Reply

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Gayathri

Gayathri

Gayathri has been reviewing books since 2010. When she is not reading books or creating online content, she works as a writer and a digital marketer. Head over to meet me!