Photo by Walter P. Berry

Nothing can prepare you for Navaratri. This cultural dance festival is billed by the government of Gujarat as the greatest show on earth. Those who may consider this to be merely media hype quickly change their minds.

The festival is performed on five tiered, full-sized stages, with a different performance on each one, all at the same time. The performers – some 700 dancers and drummers - represent the tribal groups of Gujarat.

The dancers twirl in a galaxy of colors, as though viewed through a kaleidoscope. Every facet of life is showcased - from harvesting to hunting; from battle to tender (and not-so-tender) love duets – complemented by flamethrowers, acrobats, fire-eaters, gymnasts and aboriginal troupes, all in costumes so vividly distinctive that the whole scene resembles a giant patchwork quilt that has descended from heaven.

Chief Minister Modi ends the opening night with a traditional Arti ceremony. This is a ritual in which a tray bearing a diya (lamp) together with food, water, flowers, incense and a small bell is offered in representation of the four elements (fire, earth, water and air).

This opening night is the big event, held in a stadium in the grand new capital of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. But in even the smallest villages and regional towns throughout Gujarat, dancing and partying are the order of the evening for nine nights in a row; hence the name Navaratri. (“Nav” means “nine” and “ratri” means “night.”)

In the main, Navaratri is a celebration of Gujarat’s rich folk-cultural traditions. The main dances are the Garbha (based on harvest-festival origins) and the Dandiya Raas stick dance – originally a warrior-dance, but now a fun frolic performed by both men and women.

In the Garbha dance, the performers move in a circle around a mandvi (or garbo), a structure looking sometimes like a maypole and sometimes like an altar, holding earthen lamps and housing a figure of the mother goddess. A canvas roof is erected over the mandvi and decorated with date palm leaves, flowers and vividly coloured festooned lights. As the dancers whirl around the centrepiece, they clap in a steady rhythm, which gets faster and faster until finally the dance comes to an abrupt halt.

It is said that Gujarat was settled over 8,000 years ago, by a tribe of fishermen known as the Nishads. Later, Yadava and Ahira immigrants from Mathura and Brindavan brought with them Raas Lila (the art of dancing with singing, using flutes and wooden sticks). The Dandiya Raas dance derives from Raas Lila.

The Dandiya Raas dance is more martial in its origin than the Garbha. A pair of bamboo or wooden sticks, each about two feet long, are used to simulate a swordfight. The accent is on skillful footwork. But the Dandiya’s martial origins are a little tamer than in former times, with both men and women taking part in a most amusing and enjoyable display of one-upmanship.

The former capital of the Sauarashtra Peninsula, Rajkot, is home to some of Gujarat’s most colourful Navaratri festivities, with Dandiya Raas and swordsmanship being regional specialties. On two stages in the city centre, dances take place simultaneously. First of all, dancers come center stage to pay homage to the mother goddess. Then, a swirling twirling cavalcade of dancers performs the Garbha and Dandiya Raas in dazzling succession. Surprisingly, visitors are welcome to join in the Dandiya Raas, and much laughter accompanies the amateurish movements of the “guest stars,” with festivities proceeding until late in the night.

The Navaratri festival ends on Dussera Day. It is said that, on this day, artisans worship their instruments, agriculturists their ploughs, warriors their weapons and students their books. But as a sleep-deprived visitor to Navaratri, this writer found himself worshipping just one thing – a good soft bed!