Dubai: The Navratri festival is here and Indian expatriates who participate in the traditional dance - Dandiya and Garba - are out shopping for embroidered choli, ghagra and bandhani duppattas (traditional Guajarati blouses, long skirts and scarfs draped across the body) studded with exquisite glass beads at exclusive shops located in Meena Bazaar in Bur Dubai.
"Nav" means nine and "ratri" means nights and so this Hindu festival goes on for nine days and is celebrated differently in various parts of India. But in the western state of Gujarat, this festival is featured by the Dandiya and Garba dances.
The dances are not restricted to Gujarat, from where it is said to have originated, but is also performed in various north Indian states and performed in groups in the evenings in honour of Hindu deity Durga. According to Hindu mythology the deity destroyed Mahishasura - a demon king - with her sword.
The dances are a dramatisation of this fight, but instead of swords the dancers use colourfully painted bamboo sticks and move gracefully on the rhythmic beats of traditional drums, making large circles moving in a clockwise and anti-clockwise manner.
In Dubai, special dance evenings have been organised at Al Mamzar Park, the theme park and Zabeel Park where participants are expected to turn up in hundreds.
Shopkeepers who deal in traditional ghagras and cholis said their business has picked up in the last couple of weeks and the same is the case with tailors.
"People get special cloth materials from Gujarat and come to us to get [it sewn]. There is a special way of stitching the Dandiya and Garba clothes. One needs to approach a specialised tailor for that. We are so booked that we have no choice but to turn away customers," Rajesh Patel, a tailor, said.
A ready-made ghagra, choli and duppatta is expensive in Dubai, but people who are Garba and Dandiya fans have no problem dishing out that kind of money.
"A simple embroidered ghagra, choli and duppatta will not cost more than Dh200, but if you want real fancy ones with glass works, it will go up to Dh500 to Dh1,000. It depends on what people want to buy, but usually they go in for something that falls in the ranges of Dh200 to Dh500," Jignesh Joshi, a shopkeeper in Meena Bazaar, said.
The use of colourful sticks as props in Dandiya Raas is the reason why it is also known as the "stick dance." The circular movements of Dandiya Raas to some extent are very complex and require skill. The dancers strike the sticks with their partners and dance in a circular motion to the rhythm of the music. A large number of people are involved in Dandiya Raas and two circles are formed by the dancers.
Deepal Shah, a UAE resident, has not missed out on a single Dandiya and Garba dance in Dubai so far and is all set to participate this year in one of the many places where the event has been organised in the city.
"This year I got colourful bangles from Gujarat, but I will be wearing the same ghagra choli that I wore last year, but the duppatta is new which was also bought in Gujarat ...," she said.
Beats 16 Event to rock Dubai
The Country Club Hotel, Dubai, has organised "Beats 16", dandiya nights, from 8.00pm onwards at Al Mamzar Park Amphitheatre. The pass admits a family of four with youngsters below the age of 25 years over three completely rocking nights, starting Thursday.
A similar event has also been organised at other various places in the city.
How will you celebrate Navratri festival? What do you like most about the festival? Will you join the any of the activities happening in the UAE?
Your comments
Sunita u have done a wonderful job and wat u have given the artical about our tradition that is very nice.
Kalrav Shah
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 23, 2009, 17:23
In Mauritius where it is a multicultural place it is really a great pleasure to see everyone under the same tent by keeping the fast,praying,singing holy song,Tamil traditional dance etc.My best place is at Ebene.
Prithima
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: September 23, 2009, 16:50
In South the Navratri festival is very special for godesses. First 3 days is celebrated for Durga in other words Parvati, next 3 days is celebrated for Lakshmi and the last three days is celebrated for Saraswathi. The Navaratri is all about how the godess (Durga,Lakshmi and Saraswati appeared as one god) killed the evil spirit Mahisasuran and brought piece, happiness and joyness to the people. People lend all their belongings like tools, books, etc etc during the last day which is called as Saraswathi pooja to support the Godess to fight against evil spirit. Next day is known as Vijaya Dasami on which day people should use the items given as offering during Saraswathi pooja, children should read, write etc, Practice dancing, singing etc. This day is very aspicious day in south to start any new activities like dancing, singing, admission in schools etc.
This is in short how Navratri is celebrated in South India.
G Venkatraj
Chennai,India
Posted: September 23, 2009, 14:40
Very good article. Most of the people does not know what is NAVRATRI. At least, people would get some idea about it.
THANKS HAPPY NAVRATRI
Tanmoy Chaudhuri
Kolkata,India
Posted: September 23, 2009, 14:24
This nine days festival is also being celebrated in other parts of India. Celebration includes Fasting, worshiping goddes durga and of course performing Garba / Dandia to express our happiness
Sandeep Khare
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 23, 2009, 13:19
In TamilNadu,the festival is known as Navarathri,. People keep 'Bommakolu', or arrangement of dolls on wooden steps,for 9 days. Ladies visit each other and offer prasad.In short it is a festival for the whole family, a time to meet friends and relatives.
Shoba Subramanian
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 23, 2009, 11:44
Navratri is very famous in all parts of India, especially in south
Shankari
Dubai,UAE
Posted: September 23, 2009, 11:33
I liked the article about navratri. We fast for 9 full days. This festival is mainly celebrated in Gujarat known as "NAVRATRI"and in West bengal as "Durga Puja""
Rita
Surat,India
Posted: September 23, 2009, 08:52
