Dancing steps for navratri

Invigorating jubilation, unsurpassed fervor and a state of brotherhood prevails in the ambience. The inhabitants dance each day in reverence and worship of the divine Shakti and the whole of Gujarat becomes a dance stage with euphoria burgeoning in every nook and corner – be it temples, individual households or public places.

The most fascinating aspects of the festival are the Garba and Dandiya Raas – two enlivening and versatile dance forms lwhere men and women dance away to ethnic beats offering devotion to the Goddess. Women are dressed in bright coloured Chaniya Cholis (traditional cotton skirts and tops) that are hand embroidered and embedded with decorative trinkets, while the men wear Kedia- an ethnic high waist-top with a gathering that swirls when they dance in circles.

 

 

 

The Ras dance is considered to be the form of Ras Leela, which Krishna used to perform when he was leading the life of a cow-herd boy at Gokul and Vrindavan. The ras is by itself very simple and is generally performed by a group of youthful people who move in a circle to measured steps, marking time by sticks called Dandias keeping in their hands and singing in chorus accompanied by dhol, cymbals, zans, flute or Shehnai.

 

The typical folk costumes for this dance is a small coat called Kedia with tight sleeves and pleated frills at the waist with embroidered borders and shoulders, tight trousers like Chudidars and colourfully embroidered cap or coloured turban and coloured kamarbandha i.e. waist-band, which stand in direct contrast to the general colour scheme of the costume.

Just as Krishna popularised the Ras form of dance Usa, the grand daughter-in-law of Krishna is credited to have popularised the form, Lasya Nritya which came to be known as the Garba Dance.

 

The Garba Nritya is a circular form of dance performed by the womenfolk of Gujaat and the occasions for this dance are especially Navaratri, Sharad Purnima, Vasant Panchami, Holi and other festivals. It is also learnt that the Shakti cult, which existed during the pre-historic times much before the advent of Aryans, had a form of a ritualistic dance for fertility, where in an unfertile lady take a small wooden structure of temple called 'Madh' on her hand dances in the middle encircled by other ladies. the word 'Garba' derives its name after a lamp called Garbhadip, meaning the lamp inside the earthern pot. The light in the earthen pot is usually coloured in white and has holes on its sides through which the inner lamp reflects its light. The ladies place in on their head move in a circle and sing songs in honour of the Mother Goddess. this is done especially during the Navratri, which is a festival in honour of the Mother Goddess. On the occasion of Navratri i.e. the October-harvest time practically all the citis and villages of Gujarat resound to the rhythm, music and songs of the Garba dance. Though the city dwellers have introduced elaborate modern styles and gestures in the Garba dance, its main form has remained more or less intact. Costumes are never prescribed by any set ot rules but a happy tendency has grown among city people to take to folk costumes, colours and ornaments. Singing in chorus is an invariable accompaniment of the Garba Nritya.