We went in the morning to see the private pujas of those who are honouring their ancestors–this is Sarva Pitru Amavasya, dedicated to honouring and seeking the blessings of departed ancestors, marking the final day of Pitru Paksha. Several such were happening on the steps of the kulam at the back of the temple, with of course just a tonne of plastic waste everywhere (which I started collecting and soon had a big bagful, and there was more to go but I didn’t want to be reaching into people’s puja areas just to get them all). Apparently Kalyana Sundara Gurukkal pointed out my plastic picking as a model of exemplary service to the cleaning ladies in attendance.
We are told about a Marwadi practice of Lakshmi Puja that happens on this day in the evening, but we aren’t there to see it. It is true that there are many visibly non-Tamil devotees who come and do their own abhishekams to the Sivalinga that is beside the naga pratishtha. They count among the migrant populations that have made Pondicherry home, and who seek to find their spaces of worship in the public monuments that are here, too.