Its Navaratri..

This is the golu kept in my house.

Yes its that time of the year where nine days goddess durga, lakshmi and saraswathi are worshiped, woman, kids are invited for Haldi Kumkum... I don't know when and how the tradition of keeping dolls only during Navaratri began. But we have been keeping it for almost 19 years now... On this occassion I do miss my grandmother who was instrumental in begining this tradition in my house....I remember how eager she used to be and arrange all the idols...I think whatever i have done this year is because of her and I believe she will always remain my guiding beacon...

How can Navaratri complete without mentioning about the Navavarnams composed by Muthuswamy Dikshithar...The eleven composition on goddess Kamalamba is one of my favourites...Composed in ragams, Thodi, Anandhabhairavi, Kalyani, Shankarabharanam, Kamboji, Bhairavi, Punnagavarli, Sahana, Ghanta, Ahiri, Shri, only MD can describe it so beautifully. May be i should dwell on each krithi at a time. Everytime i listen to it sung by DKJ, he transcends me to the shrine of Kamalamba in Tiruvarur...

It is believed that the goddess does penance for nine and on the tenth day she triumphs over the demons.. On the day of Vijaydasami, it is a tradition to start learning anything new. Generally students are enrolled to music schools and it is also on this day we pay our respects to our guru who have guided us all along...I pay my repects to my guru Late Smt Mangalam Muthuswamy who has been intrumental in imparting knowledge and whatever little i know or enjoy music is only because of her...Sri Gurubhyo Namah...Let us all pray the goddess to give us peace and prosperity and guide us...

Kamalamba Navavarnam: Wikipedia