Gujarati Navratra Special

It’s that time of the year again when festivities begin to throb and there are celebrations galore all across the country. The slight nip in the air brings with it, the longest Hindu festival of worship and dance, Navratra. While the eastern part of the country is coloured in shades of vermillion with Durga Puja celebrations, Gujarat sways in the “circle of ecstasy” by celebrating Navratra with great pomp and show.

But here, I am not going to talk about what happens during Navratra or elucidate on the dance forms of Garba and Dandiya Raas. I would rather suggest you to grab your dandiya sticks and set out to groove the dance floor. While you decide on what to wear and how to prepare for the coming Navratra, here are some interesting facts about this Gujarati festival that might fascinate you.

Did you know? Navratra is not only known for its exuberance and splendour but also holds credit for being the longest dance festival in the world that lasts for nine days. After all, Navratra is the most important festival of Gujarat, the only place in the world that hosts approximately 12,365 fairs and festivals in a year. Wow! It’s almost like every day sees 33 celebrations in Gujarat.

Ever wondered why is the dance form called Garba? The term Garba comes from the word “garbo”, the shrine or the earthenware pot that is erected by each community to mark the beginning of the festival, on the first day of the Hindu month of Ashwin. The pot remains the focal point of every Garba circle and includes a betel nut, coconut and silver coin placed inside it.

Photo Credit: Hardik Jadeja/Wikimedia

“Prisons are built with stones of law, brothels with bricks of religion.” For those of you who disagree with what William Blake quoted, here’s interesting trivia for you. During Navratra, the sacred idol of goddess Durga is considered to be incomplete without the soil from a prostitute's doorstep. The priests personally go to brothels to beg for dust from a prostitute (or devdasis, as they are called). It is believed that a man who enters a brothel leaves all his purity and virtues there, making the soil of a brothel pure. It is further reasoned that goddess Durga in the form of a prostitute, vanquishes 'kaam' and 'vaasna' from our society.

In many parts of the country, sowing of barley seeds in a pot is an important ritual on the first day of Navratra. This pot is watered and worshipped throughout the nine days. On the tenth day, the shoots sprout to about 3 - 5 inches in length and are distributed among friends and loved ones.  This custom is indicative of fertility worship and is known as "Khetri".

While most of us are aware of the popular stories of Durga-Mahisasur battle and the Ram-Ravana war, there are other legends that are also prevalent about Navratra. It is believed that Daksha, the king of the Himalayas, had a beautiful daughter called Uma who married Lord Shiva against the wishes of her father. In revenge, Daksha organized a huge yagna and invited all the gods and deities except his new son-in-law and publically abused him. Out of anger, Uma decided to end her life by jumping into the agnikund of the yagna and came to be known as Sati. Since then, it is believed that Uma comes every year with Ganesh, Kartik, Saraswati, Lakshmi and two of her best friends or 'sakhis', called Jaya and Bijaya, to visit her parent's home during Navratra.

While these were some interesting trivia that I found on Navratra, I would like to welcome all of you to share some of yours too. Till then, Tamē Khuśa Navarātrā and Shubho Vijayadashmi to all of you!

To experience the exuberance of Gujarat, you can book a flight to Ahmedabad, flight to Rajkot or flight to Vadodara– the important airports of the state. Alternatively, you can take a train or bus to your specific destination in Gujarat. MakeMyTrip also offers several holiday packages to Gujarat.