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garba
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garba
Garba and Raas dances take place in the main during a period of nine nights known as Navratri ( literally meaning nine nights ) Navratri is a festival of dance and devotion in honour and praise of various forms, aspects and manifestations of Hindu Mother Goddesses.
The Garba dance is over two thousand years old and was derived from the Raas stick dance. The Garba dance was traditionally performed by women though in modern times some men also take part.
In popular conception a reference to garba means a reference to the dance that is Garba. Garba has other definitions as well. Garba literally means a womb. Garba can also refer to a perforated pot with a light in it. The name Garba is also given to the songs which are sung when garba is danced.
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the perforated pot
The pot is usually made of clay and is decorated and embellished on the outside ( PIC ) Great care is taken in creating and decorating the pot. A hand made Diva made of ghee and cotton wool is lit and placed inside. This pot is also known as the Garba Deep. The word Garba is derived from the Sanskrit word Garbadeep, Garba meaning the womb and the Deep means light. The light represents the Divine shining through the perforations and the pot symbolises the womb universe. The light may also be taken to be the foetus in the womb.
the dance
This is the circular dance that is performed around the pot. Initially women will start dancing in a circular form around the pot. The steps are quite simple. Each dancer follows more or less the same step, with different vigor. They will clap at the end of several steps in time and rhythm.
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the songs
The songs and tunes to which the Garba dance takes place, are also known as Garba or Garbas. These compositions have been handed down over the generations and their words and themes range from the spiritual to the social, and are mainly in praise and honour of the various mother goddesses associated with Navratri.
aarti
At a Garba event, the first two hours or so are devoted to performing Garba dances. There is then a short period of communal worship known as an Aarti, in which the gathering stand in a circle around a image or sculpture of a deity and sing and chant a devotional offering, whilst clapping hands, and waving small lighted wicks ( Divas ) in a gentle swaying motion.
It is believed these Divas acquire the spirit and power of the deity, and they are then circulated amongst the worshippers, who will lightly cup their downturned palms over the flame and then raise their palms over their forehead so that the divine blessing passes from the flame to the devotees.
It is quite a sight to see gatherings of a few hundred to over tens of thousands all actively engaged in this devotional worship, with an abundance of small flickering flames radiating all around.
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