“As Gujaratis, we celebrate Navratri (nine nights) with the famous Garba and Dandiya Raas. Garba is a folk dance form where women dance in circles around the photo or idol of the Ambe Maa (Goddess Durga) and a pot containing a lamp which signifies life inside a womb as “Garbha” means ‘the womb’.
Navratri is also the time we celebrate the fertility of soil and the monsoon harvest. Wheat grains are sown in a small quantity of fresh soil and the soil is worshipped and watered all nine days.
Each of the nine days, we make special traditional Gujarati delicacies like Dhokla, Khandvi, Fafda, Basundi, Rasmalai, Shrikhand, etc. Some people also fast all nine days, having a restricted diet of fruits and Sabudana preparations. We wear a different colour everyday, dedicated to one of Durga’s forms respectively.
On the eighth day, called “Bhavani Aatham”, we invite “Kumarikas” (Young Girls) to our house and worship them believing them to be incarnates of Goddess Bhavani.
On tenth day, i.e. Vijayadashmi, it is said that in the Mahabharata, Arjun helped Prince Uttara fight the Kauravas. Hence we perform “Ayudh Puja” or Puja of weapons and instruments on this day to signify victory. Every year, we attend many Garba- Dandiya events. What used to be a typical event for Gujaratis is now a cosmopolitan event attended by people of all faiths. Men and women wear colourful traditional outfits –Kedia / Kurta Pyjama for Men and Ghagra-Choli for Women, combined with beautiful jewellery, contesting for various titles. For dance enthusiasts like us, these nine days are extremely joyous!”

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