As October approaches, everything gets a little more spooky. The pastel butterflies are replaced by mini ghost lights. Everything comes in pumpkin scents and flavors: lattes, bread, pies, pop-tarts, oreos, and even hot chocolate! Halloween decor starts to take over with massive felt spiders, skeletons, broomsticks, and gravestones! And most importantly, everyone is trying to decide on the perfect Halloween costume. I love a good spooky season just as much as the next girl, but October means something different for me. October doesn’t mean ghosts, chocolate, and pumpkin buckets. October means that Navratri is coming!
Navratri is a festival celebrated all across India, largely in Gujarat. Nav- means nine, and -ratri means nights. So, this festival is celebrated for nine nights, pretty straightforward. But why nine nights? What’s the symbolism behind that? There’s a short story that explains the origin of Navratri about a powerful goddess, Jagdamba, and her antagonist, Mahishasur. A simplified version of the story is that Mahishasur was spreading negativity, selfishness, and harm wherever he went, and no one could stop him until Jagdamba (who we call Ma Jagdamba because she is like our mother). She fought Mahishasur for nine nights and ultimately defeated him. The symbolism behind this festival is to try to defeat your inner Mahishasur, inner negative qualities, like laziness, greediness, hate, etc., and try to gain positive qualities like compassion, sincerity, and love from Ma Jagdamba.
Whether you believe the story or not is totally up to you, but Navratri, in general, is so much fun! Ma Jagdama fought for nine nights, so for those nine nights every year, we get to dance! The dance we do during Navratri is called garba. Garba consists of a few dance moves that repeat in a pattern as you move forward in a circle. There are a variety of these patterns. There are always the classics, some styles that are local to the region, and you can always make your own.Â
During Navratri, you get to wear traditional clothes like chaniya cholis, pull out the oxidized jewelry from the back of your closet, and do garba with your loved ones around a statue of Ma Jagdama. I like to explain it as a flash mob. Everyone comes dressed up, and everyone somehow knows the steps!Â
Below is a music video displaying the garba dance, music, and overall vibes!
Personally, Navratri is the time at which I connect with my culture the most. Not only do I get to dress up and do garba with my friends, but I also get to reconnect with my roots as I put my energy towards something positive and fulfilling. Of course, many people come to Navratri just for the cute guys and the pretty girls (and I cannot blame them because everyone looks absolutely gorgeous in traditionals). But for me, there’s more to it.
Navratri is the joy of dancing for hours, even though my feet are covered in massive blisters. Navaratri is the laughter of me and my friends trying to learn a new type of garba and running into each other. Navratri is the happiness of reflecting back on the year and realizing how much you’ve grown as a human being. I love Navratri, and I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate it this year!