Garba: The Dance of Devotion, Community and Celebrationगरबा की कहानी - भक्ति, संगीत और परंपरा

Overview

Garba is a circle dance from Gujarat performed during Navratri, the nine nights dedicated to the goddess. In 2023 UNESCO added the “Garba of Gujarat” to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity [1][2]. Today Garba nights are held all over India and abroad, including in Jabalpur [4] - but it is a Gujarati tradition that has travelled, not one that began here.

Origins in Gujarat

UNESCO records Garba as an element of Gujarat, practised in both cities and villages and passed down the generations by taking part, watching and imitating [1]. The word is commonly linked to the Sanskrit garbha, “womb”, which points to gestation and life [3]. We have not found a reliable date for when Garba began, so we do not give one.

Navratri and the worship of Shakti

According to UNESCO, Garba is danced during Navaratri, the festival that honours the feminine divine energy, Shakti [1]. Dancers move around a centre that holds either a lit clay pot or an image of the mother goddess Amba [1]. For devotees, the dance itself is a form of worship: the circle is offered to the goddess, night after night.

The garbo: lamp, pot and circle

At the centre stands the garbo - a perforated earthenware pot with an oil lamp inside [1]. Light spills out through the holes. A common reading, reported in reference works, is that the flame stands for life or the soul inside the body, matching the “womb” meaning of the name [3]. Treat that as interpretation, not a fixed rule.

Dancers circle the centre counter-clockwise with simple steps. UNESCO notes that the tempo starts slow and builds to fast whirling [1]. When the crowd is large, several rings form around the same centre [3]. The circle has no head or tail, so everyone in it is equal.

Garba and Dandiya Raas

The two are often mixed up, but they are different. In Garba, dancers sing and clap together as they move [1]. Dandiya Raas is a sibling circle dance in which each dancer holds a pair of decorated sticks (dandiya) and strikes them in rhythm with a partner; it was traditionally danced by men and often comes later in the night [3]. Modern Navratri events usually include both, and their styles now influence each other [3].

Music, rhythm and instruments

Garba is sung music first: the songs praise the goddess, and dancers join in and clap in time [1]. The beat is carried by drums - reference works name the dhol and dholak, along with cymbals and the shehnai; modern events often add keyboards and amplified bands [3]. The steady build of tempo through the night is the heart of the experience [1].

Clothing

Traditional dress is colourful. Women commonly wear the chaniya choli (a flared skirt, blouse and dupatta), and men the kediyu, a short gathered top, often with mirror-work and embroidery [3]. UNESCO notes that costume and ornament makers are part of the wider Garba community [1].

A community celebration

UNESCO stresses that Garba brings people together and helps cut across social, economic, gender and religious lines, with a wide range of practitioners - dancers, musicians, craftspeople, social groups and religious figures [1]. Schools, universities, NGOs, choreographers and the media now help pass it on [1]. Large ticketed Garba nights, college events and diaspora gatherings are the modern face of this tradition.

UNESCO recognition

The inscription was made by decision 18.COM 8.b.32 [1], at the 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in Kasane, Botswana; the Indian Embassy in Warsaw dated it 6 December 2023 [2].

Garba in Jabalpur

Jabalpur hosts Garba during Navratri, as cities across India do. In 2025, The Hitavada reported that “garba nights” were being held across the city, without naming venues [4]. We have not found a documented history of Garba in Jabalpur - who started it here, or when - so that remains an open question.

What is distinctive to Jabalpur is something else: its public Durga pandals and samitis, the Jawara processions, and the Dussehra and visarjan processions. These are local and regional traditions in their own right. Garba sits beside them as a welcome guest, not as their source.

The difference is easy to see on the ground. Garba is centred on a lamp or an image of Amba and on the dancers themselves, who keep moving in the circle all night [1]. Jabalpur’s festival is centred on clay idols of Durga set up in neighbourhood pandals - more than 1,000 large and small idols across the city in 2025, according to the same report, with some pandals built as temple replicas or themed sets [4]. That report also notes that the city’s Bengali community began its own worship on Panchami, at venues such as Bengali Club and Khamaria [4]. In Jabalpur, worship is mostly done by visiting, offering and taking darshan, and it ends with the idols being carried through the streets for immersion. The related articles on Jabalpur’s Navratri, Jawara and the visarjan processions cover these.

Etiquette for visitors

• Garba is worship for many people. Remove shoes if asked near the garbo or the goddess’s image, and don’t step into the centre.
• Join the circle in its direction (counter-clockwise) and match the pace; watch a round first if you’re new.
• At a Dandiya circle, keep sticks low and controlled and face your partner.
• Dress modestly; traditional clothes are welcome but not required.
• Ask before photographing people, and don’t block the circle to film.
• Follow the organisers’ rules on timings, entry passes and sound.

Further reading

• UNESCO, “Garba of Gujarat” [1].