Experience the Joyful Bliss: High Tea Takes Center Stage at Chennai’s Vibrant Navaratri Festival
Navaratri Celebrations See a Modern Twist with Elaborate High Teas and Social Gatherings
As Navaratri festivities commence, carefully stored and themed golu dolls have been beautifully arranged on stepped platforms, adorned with lights and flowers. This time-honored festival also marks a period of socializing, with friends and family visiting each other’s homes to admire the displays. A rising trend among celebrants is the elaborate planning of menus and gifts, going beyond traditional prasadam such as sundal or puttu.
Padma Devadoss of VGN Builders, who began her grand Navaratri celebrations in 2015, exemplifies this shift. She organizes daily pujas, and hires caterers to serve high tea in a traditional bandhi style, where food is served on banana leaves. Her guest list categories include relatives, business contacts, school friends, and neighbors, allowing her to foster personal connections.
Chef Santosh of Canvas Cafe highlights the increasing preference for professional catering during Navaratri. Offering innovative takes on traditional foods, his menu includes peepal leaf-steamed millet idlis and dahi dosas with diverse fillings, ensuring dishes are free from onion and garlic.
Andal Aghoram, an educationist, collaborates with her joint family to meticulously plan the celebrations months in advance, focusing on traditional food items and thematic golus, such as last year’s Tirumala Tirupati theme. For her guests, she sets up live counters for mini idlis, dosas, and more, ensuring a variety that caters to those who fast.
Soumya Ramesh of Arusuvai Catering notes the decade-long rise in demand for traditional high teas during Navaratri, featuring idli and dosa stations, sabudana-based items, and chilled kheer. Similarly, Bharath K of Arrvee Catering offers set menus featuring a variety of snacks and sweets.
Seasoned hosts like Latha Ganesan and Lakshmi Krishnan emphasize the importance of socializing and maintaining traditions during Navaratri, often serving elaborate meals and involving younger generations in these vibrant celebrations. This contemporary twist to the traditional festival has made it a highlight of the social calendar, bridging old customs with modern community spirit.
Original Story https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/apart-from-puja-and-prasadam-high-tea-takes-the-centre-stage-during-the-navaratri-festival-in-chennai/article68700847.ece
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