Celebration of Navratri

I have had a passion to dance for as long as I can remember. I have done hip pop, modern, Indian, break, and salsa. One of my favorite dances is Garba, which is a type of Indian dance. Garba is a type of dance that anyone can do however they want, as long as they dance in a circle. Most of the time Garba is performed at weddings or any celebration, for competitions, and especially during Navrarti, which is one of most important festivals in Hinduism.  

Navarti is celebrated for nine nights since “nav” stands for nine and “ratri” means night. Depending on lunar calendar Navratri is celebrated in September to October. Indians celebrate Navratri to worship the Goddess Druga, who is a form of divine power. Navratri has a traditional story like other Indian festivals.  Long ago, there was a king demon Mahishasur, who had body of a human and head of a buffalo. He prayed and mediated hard for many years to please Lord Brahma. Seeing this, Lord Brahma was pleased and granted Mahishasur’s request that no human or god should be able to kill him. Soon after he became a demon and started to spread terror on earth. 

Devi Druga defeating Mahishaur

Seeing this, the Goddess Pravti became angry and took the form of Devi Druga, a goddess with many arms, to be able to battle with Mahishaur. She fought Mahishasur for nine days and nights. At the end of ten nights, she won the battle, and restored the balance of life. Hindu celebrates Navrati to worship Devi Druga.

To celebrate Navratri women and men wear traditional Indian clothes. They dance the Garba in circles with different styles. The best part about Garba is, except for when doing competitions or performing on a stage, there are no rules at all. Dancers at festivals and celebrations can perform any style they please.

After the puja, which is the main prayer for Devi Durga, is finished, music will begin to play and people will begin to dance in circles. The music can be of different types, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, with the dance changing to fit the music. The lyrics for the music is a prayer for Devi Durga.  The traditional dance steps are simple, though over the years people invented more complex steps. The music is loud and people of all ages are dancing and sweating, happy and celebrating. 

by D. Patel