About Garba

Garba (ગરબા in Gujarati) is a form of dance that originated in the state of Gujarat in India. The name is derived from the Sanskrit term Garbha (“womb”) and Deep (“a small earthenware lamp”). Many traditional garbas are performed around a centrally lit lamp, or a picture or statue of the Goddess Shakti. The circular and spiral figures of Garba have similarities to other spiritual dances, such as those of Sufi culture. Traditionally, it is performed during the nine-day Hindu festival Navarātrī (Gujarātī નવરાત્રી Nava = 9, rātrī = nights). Either the lamp (the Garba Deep) or an image of the Goddess Durga (also called Amba) is placed in the middle of concentric rings as an object of veneration.

 

Dance

 

Modern garba is also heavily influenced by Ḍānḍīyā Raas (Gujarātī: ડાંડીયા), a dance traditionally performed by men. The merger of these two dances has formed the high-energy dance that is seen today.

Both men and women usually wear colorful costumes while performing garba and dandiya. The girls and the women wear Chaniya choli, a three-piece dress with a choli, which is an embroidered and colorful blouse, teamed with chaniya, which is the flared, skirt-like bottom, and dupatta, which is usually worn in the traditional Gujarati manner. Chaniya Cholis are decorated with beads, shells, mirrors, stars, and embroidery work, mati, etc. Traditionally, women adorn themselves with jhumkas (large earrings), necklaces, bindi, bajubandh, chudas and kangans, kamarbandh, payal, and mojiris. Boys and men wear kafni pyjamas with a kediyu – a short round kurta – above the knees and pagadi on the head with bandhini dupatta, kada, and mojiris. There is a huge interest in Garba among the youth of India and in particular, the Gujarati diaspora.

Garba and Dandiya Raas are also popular in the United States where more than 20 universities have Raas/Garba competitions on a huge scale every year with professional choreography. One of the most notable of these competitions is called Garba With Attitude. Garba With Attitude also shortened to GWA, hosted by the Indian Sub-Continental Club (ISC) at the University of California, Irvine, has grown to become America’s premier Garba/Raas competition and is the only competition of its kind on the West Coast. In its eleventh year, its focus not only lies in exhibiting the values and expressions of this form of the traditional dance form, but also in promoting cultural awareness. It is a platform for philanthropic awareness through fostering a competitive and professional atmosphere. In the past ten years, Garba With Attitude has grown from five California Universities to over 200 participants from 10 Universities from across the United States. The show has had a record five year sell out point with over 1,000 audience members which include students, representatives from various organizations, family members of participants, show organizers, and garba enthusiasts.

Garba is also very popular in the United Kingdom where there are a number of Gujarati communities who hold their own garba nights and widely popular among the Gujarati community even in Canada, where the largest navratri festival in North America is held annually in Toronto. They say “Ae Hallo” for fun, which means “Come on! Lets start!”

 

Tradition

 

Garba is a Gujarati folk dance celebrated in Navaratri, a celebration lasting nine nights. People celebrate this festival in crowds, e.g. clubs, societies, or schools. Garba songs are usually on the topics of Lord Krishna or the nine goddesses. Sanedo is the most wanted song in the crowd. Kids dance to songs like mumbai thi gadi aavi re….. To begin with, they start with 3 taali and then all the fast songs are played last. There are many forms of garba like- dandiya Raas, garbi, Heench, 3 taali and Dodhiyu. Garba varies from place to place in Gujarat. The traditional costumes the garba dancers wear is pink, yellow orange and such bright coloured Chanya choli or ghagra choli; odhni with bandhani (tie-die), Abla (Big mirrors) or with thick Gujarati borders; They also wear heavy jewelry, for example: 2-3 necklaces, sparkling bangles or kadas, janjhars or payals, kandoro or waist belts, long oxidised earrings and bajubandh.

 

Meaning

 

The word Garba comes from the Sanskrit word for womb and so implies gestation or pregnancy – life. Traditionally, the dance is performed around a clay lantern with a light inside, called a Garbha Deep. This lantern represents life; the fetus in the womb in particular. The dancers thus honor Durga, the feminine form of divinity.

Garba is performed in a circle as a symbol of the Hindu view of time. The rings of dancers revolve in cycles, as time in Hinduism is cyclical. As the cycle of time revolves, from birth, to life, to death and again to rebirth, the only thing that is constant is the Goddess, that one unmoving symbol in the midst of all of this unending and infinite movement. The dance symbolizes that God, represented in feminine form in this case, is the only thing that remains unchanging in a constantly changing universe (jagat).

The Garbha Deep has another symbolic interpretation. The vessel itself is a symbol of the body, within whom Divinity (in the form of the Goddess) resides. Garba is danced around this symbol to honor the fact that all humans have the Divine energy of Devi within them. Garba is now being appreciated worldwide.

Information Source : Wikipedia