Navaratri Garba Dandiya Raas

garba__folk_dance_of_gujarat_bi21sm.jpg mahalaxmi-temple.jpg Garba Navratri.flv gujarat_festival.gif Garba Navratri - 6.flv dandia_raas__folk_dance_of_gujarat_bc03.jpg an_navratri_dancers1_420x300.jpg Garba 2007 - Falguni Pathak at Raritan Center, New Jersey.flv daandia_raas__folk_dance_of_gujarat_bc80.jpg dandiya-raas-gujarat.jpg cm058yfq.jpg ABOUT THIS GLOG!! TO READ ENTIRE TEXT, SCROLL DOWN THE CURSOR! One important aspect of Indian culture is folk dances. There are so many that it would be impossible to jot all of them down!! However, in this glog, I've represented the folk dance of the state that I hail from-the state of Gujarat. There are two forms of this folk dance; one, 'Garba' and two, 'Dandia-Raas'. The key elements of these dances are that they are performed in circular fashion and for religious reasons (a form of worship for the goddesses Ambaa and Durgaa). While Garba involves the performance of graceful body movements with hand-claps, Dandia, on the other hand involves holding and swinging sticks in hand (the sticks are called dandiyas). In Gujarat, these dances are chiefly performed during the reigious period of nine nights, called 'Navaratri', meaning Nine Nights. So, as you can guess, these are dances of the night. The cities and villages are all lit up bright and the people roam about in colourful traditional and semi-traditional clothes. Clothes themselves are an added attraction, with all the numerous radiant colours decorated with glass pieces called Aabhla. The men wear Dhotis or Kedias and turbans and the women put on Ghaghras and cholis of Bandhani style. One beautiful aspect of the Navaratri festival is that, everyone participates in it, from children to oldies, and people of different religions!! The youngsters of Gujarat are pretty fond of it because it's one of those times when one can freak about carefreely even at the latest hours of night! Moreover, wherever Gujaratis go, Navaratri is celebrated!! And so one can find these dances from India to America!! Navaratri with Garba and Raas is my personal favorite too and just another reason for my love towards my homecountry!! :) Video Number 1 -- Navaratri in the U.S.A. Videos Numbers 2 & 3 -- Local Navaratri in Gujarat 1 2 3 Indian Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam - Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje.mp3 Indian Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam - Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje.mp3 dance, festival, folk, india