Navaratri Festival

Navratri is an Indian festival usually celebrated in the month of October to mark the victory of the Hindu Goddess “Durga” over the evil demon “Mahishasura”. The festival is celebrated across India over a period of 9 days and nights, hence the name “Nav” meaning Nine, and “Ratri” meaning Nights.  While each Indian state has a slightly different way of enjoying it, the Indian state of “Gujarat” has a unique way of celebrating this festival: lots and lots of music and dancing! People of all ages, decked in their finest, get together every evening to dance their way into the small hours of the morning. These group/communal dances are usually performed in a circle. There are two different types of dances- one is “Garba” in which people dance swaying to the music while clapping rhythmically to the beats and the other is “Dandiya” in which people use decorated wooden sticks (like dowels) to perform circular dance while tapping their sticks together to mimic the rhythmic beats.