by SAKINA RANGWALA


Observer photo by Sakina Rangwala
More than 400 people celebrated the festival of Navratri at the Northern Virginia Community College.

More than 400 people in the local Indian community celebrated the festival of Navratri and danced for hours around a photographic image of Durga, the goddess of power, this past Friday night at the Annandale Campus of Northern Virginia Community College.

The event was organized by the Gujarati Indian Community. The dance, called Garba Raas, is a circular dance performed with sticks that originated in the Western region of India, in the state of Gujarat.

Hindus all over the world celebrate the festival of “Navratri”, which means “nine nights” in Sanskrit. The nights, as determined by a Hindu Lunar calendar, are dedicated to the female incarnation of God’s energy or Durga, the goddess of power. She is portrayed as riding a lion and carrying weapons in her multiple arms.


Observer photo by Sakina Rangwala
An onlooker enjoys a brief moment of rest.

Dr. Suresh Gupta, chairman of the Durga Temple for all Hindus in Fairfax, Va., explained that in different parts of India people celebrate this festival differently.

“For all the nine days, different Pujas (religious rituals) are done, in order to fulfill wishes. These are auspicious days that have been celebrated for centuries. It is a famous festival throughout India. In the Eastern part of the country people only perform Puja, but in Gujarat (Western India) people dance,” he said.

Gupta explained that the dancing was a commercialization of the religion. “If it weren’t for Gujarat and the dancing, youngsters wouldn’t be involved in the festival at all,” he said.

Dennis Marotta, who is American, accompanied his friend Saswati Bora, originally from India, to the festival. He said it was easy to pick up the stick dance but couldn’t understand the symbolism of the sticks. “I’ve asked people here to explain what this festival is about, and it seems the dance is for enjoying, more than for any religious significance,” he said.

Bora, from the Bengali region of India, said that the Gujarat way of celebrating the festival was unique and cosmopolitan. “Being an Indian it is my first time here, I am not religious and don’t really follow Navratri, but this is so much fun, it does not seem like worshipping,” she said.

Shobhana Arvind Joshi was visiting her son, who lives in the area. She comes from Surat, a bustling industrial city of Gujarat, and attended the festival with her family. “The celebrations here are similar to Surat,” she said. For Joshi, Navratri represents enjoyment more than anything else. “I like watching people perform more than being down there myself,” she said, sitting among several onlookers.

Visit the organizers, the GujaratiSamaj for information on the last Navratri dance celebration at the University of Maryland on Oct 26.


Observer photo by Sakina Rangwala
Children learn the Garba, practicing with sticks.