The festival season is in full swing. In fact, there are so many festivals that I tend to lose track. I went out yesterday and saw many broken gourds in the road, so I knew something was up. I discovered that it was the first day of Navaratri. (One invokes the evil that has accumulated in one's house or shop into a gourd, then carries it out to the road and breaks it. All the evil leaves you and goes into the road. And in fact, the gourds' flesh is slippery, and is a real hazard to bicyclists and motorcyclists.)
Navaratri, during which Goddesses are worshipped in several forms, is going on from September 25 to October 5.
During Navaratri Gujaratis dance the garba or dandiya-raas, a dance in which one holds a stick (danda) in each hand, and claps the sticks in rhythmic patterns against those held by one's partner.
In Tamil Nadu, people set up kolu stands, seven-stepped platforms filled with dolls representing the world -- gods at the top, mythical beings, humans, animals, etc. lower down. (This link also includes Navaratri recipes -- page down.)
Listen to Gujarati Navaratri songs.
Read advice on how to be popular while performing dandiya-raas.
More here and here.
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