| Navaratri |
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From Tuesday, 04 October 2005 - 20:00
To Wednesday, 12 October 2005 - 01:00
Every day |
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Hits : 1107 |
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| The Hindu festival of Navaratri takes over every club and most stadiums in Mumbai with its dandiya (sticks) dance.
The festival is a celebration of the Mother Goddess Durga and the feminine principle of Shakti. Bengalis celebrate Navaratri to mark her victory over the demon Mahisasura, but the music and dance which characterise the celebrations in Mumbai are a Gujarati custom.
The west Indian state of Gujarat is just north of Mumbai and the city has a massive Gujarati population. Gujaratis have two traditional dances, the garba and the ras, which were traditionally performed at Navaratri. One of the versions of ras-garba is called dandiya ras, because each dancer carries a pair of sticks and hits others' sticks to the beat of the music.
Over the past two decades a number of urban innovations have crept into this performance, beginning with the emergence of disco dandiya. This jazzed-up dance with pop music in the background dominates Navaratri in Mumbai. It is one of the few occasions when girls and boys have official sanction to dance together in public. Highly recommended for visitors! |
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Location: All over Mumbai |
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