Friday night marked the first of nine nights of
Navratri, a Hindu festival celebrating Goddess Durga the divine mother (left picture).
Navratri literally means nine nights and is the world's longest held dance celebration. It is held every year to worship the nine forms of the goddess around the beginning of October but the exact start date is determined according to the Hindu lunar calendar.
During the festival, streets are filled with live music where men and women dressed in elaborate and colorful costumes dance the night away. While participating in the
Garba dance, there is a series of choreographed steps you have to follow and repeat to join the circle of dancers (kinda like a much cooler "Electric Slide"). Throughout the night, more and more people joined the circle as the music got faster. It took us a while to get the hang of it, but once we did it was hard to stop dancing. This goes on every night all over India for the entirety of the festival from 9 pm until the sun comes up! It was truly a memorable and exciting experience to participate in such a fun event. We plan to dance every night until we leave India on Tuesday.
Pictures: 1) Justin's cousin Malu performing
Kathak, a classical Indian dance during
Navratri. 2) His Baldness (Justin), Malu, and I all dressed up and ready to go for our
Garba dance. 3) Blurry picture of the festival.
Friday night marked the first of nine nights of Navratri, a Hindu festival celebrating Goddess Durga the divine mother (left picture). Navratri literally means nine nights and is the world's longest held dance celebration. It is held every year to worship the nine forms of the goddess around the beginning of October but the exact start date is determined according to the Hindu lunar calendar.
During the festival, streets are filled with live music where men and women dressed in elaborate and colorful costumes dance the night away. While participating in the Garba dance, there is a series of choreographed steps you have to follow and repeat to join the circle of dancers (kinda like a much cooler "Electric Slide"). Throughout the night, more and more people joined the circle as the music got faster. It took us a while to get the hang of it, but once we did it was hard to stop dancing. This goes on every night all over India for the entirety of the festival from 9 pm until the sun comes up! It was truly a memorable and exciting experience to participate in such a fun event. We plan to dance every night until we leave India on Tuesday.
Pictures: 1) Justin's cousin Malu performing Kathak, a classical Indian dance during Navratri. 2) His Baldness (Justin), Malu, and I all dressed up and ready to go for our Garba dance. 3) Blurry picture of the festival.
No comments:
Post a Comment