வலைப்பதிவுகள் — maharastra

There is a particular hush that falls over Maharashtrian homes every September — the kind that happens right before someone arrives after a very long time. Doorsteps get scrubbed, rangolis bloom in red and white, and somewhere in the kitchen, a pot of milk is already simmering for the payasam. She is coming. Not a guest, not quite family either — something closer to both. This is Jyeshtha Gauri, the elder mother-goddess who walks into homes for three days every year, and if you have ever wondered who is Jyeshtha Gauri and why an entire state pauses for her, this...