Garba of Gujarat: India’s Longest and Largest Dance Festival

Dr Utpala Desai, a scholar of Folk Traditions of Gujarat, co-wrote the dossier on the Garba, a popular traditional ritual dance-form of Gujarat, for its inclusion in the UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity. It was accepted on 6th Dec 2023. Dr Desai shares her thoughts on the dance form and attire worn during its performance. 

Guest edited by Brinda Gill

Brinda Gill: Please could you tell us about Garba
Dr Utpala Desai: Garba is a ritual devotional dance form of Gujarat traditionally performed by women to honour, worship and celebrate the Mother Goddess. It is one of Gujarat’s oldest dance tradition. It has been transmitted down the centuries as an oral tradition with girls informally picking up the steps and songs from elder women in the family.


Image and image above: Garba performance at the 7th Walking Hand in Hand show. Image Courtesy CDS Art Foundation, Ahmedabad.

The word `Garba’ refers to the song, dance and perforated earthen pot around which the dance is performed. It stems from the Sanskrit word `Garbha’ that means womb and thus alludes to the pot that is akin a womb and Shakti (feminine energy), the Mother Goddess who gives birth to creation

Metaphorically, Garba is woman’s voice, her devotion and her identity. A lit oil lamp, representing divine light and energy, is placed inside the earthen pot. The pot is respectfully placed on the ground with an image of Goddess Amba. The women, always bare feet, dance around it in a circle as they sing songs of and worship to the Mother Goddess.  The pot is regarded as a shrine and the dance is a prayer.

BG: When is Garba performed?
Dr Utpala Desai: Garba has traditionally been performed during the Navratri festival that falls during the Ashwin/Aaso month of the Hindu calendar. It is the post-monsoon time and Garba is a thanksgiving for a good harvest.  Navratri literally means nine (nav) nights (ratri), and the women dance on these nine nights.


Image: Garba performance at the 7th Walking Hand in Hand show. Image Courtesy CDS Art Foundation, Ahmedabad.

There are four Navratris during the year, however, the Aaso Navratri is considered most auspicious. Garba is also performed during the other Navratris; family occasions such as the baby shower ceremony and weddings; and festivals such as Janmashtami in Saurashtra and Kutch. With changing times, Garba is performed at social, political and religious functions and programs as a showcase of the cultural identity of Gujarat. Garba was accepted for inclusion in the UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity on 6 December 2023 and this recognition is an honour for the state.  

BG: Where is Garba performed?
Dr Utpala Desai: Traditionally Garba is performed in courtyards of homes, town squares and temple courtyards from remote villages to towns and cities. Today, Garba has moved from being a personal, home-centric, ritual prayer dance to a popular dance performed in large open areas by hundreds and thousands of dancers making it more of an event managed by choreographers and event managers with professional musicians and singers. “United Way of Baroda” in Vadodara is one of the largest Garba performances in a public space in India. Garba is performed across Gujarat, and by Gujaratis living in different parts of India and overseas. Others also join the dance as it is open to all. People from all walks of life participate in Garba.

BG: Is there a specific attire worn for Garba?
Dr Utpala Desai: Women wear a chaniya (long skirt), choli (blouse), and odhna (drape) while performing Garba. The blouse may be backless (kaapda). The blouse is of perfect fitting with attractive embroidery and mirror work. The odhna is typically about 2.5 metres long with an embroidered border where the drape is placed on the forehead. The skirt has a waistband and has lots of gathers at the waist. 

The chaniya, choli/kaapda and odhna are in fact the traditional daily attire of women in rural Gujarat. However, with changing times, women-specially in urban areas- wear Indian attire such as saris, salwar-kurta, churidar- kurta or Western attire. Yet, when Garba is performed women in urban areas wear their traditional attire the chaniya-choli-odhna.   


Image: Navratri Garba. Image Courtesy Utpala Desai.

In recent times, men and children have also joined Garba wearing traditional attire. The men wear the kediya- chorni; the kediya is a long-sleeved upper garment that is fitted the chest and then flares out around the waist and hips, and the chorni is a lower garment that is loose around waist and fitted from the knee to the ankles. Men may also tie a traditional-style turban.  

BG: Has the attire undergone change over the years?
Dr Utpala Desai: The Garba attire of long skirt, blouse and drape has remained constant over the centuries. There may be some changes in style such as skirts with more flare. Traditionally women typically wore hand embroidered, mirror-worked skirts and blouses which they embroidered themselves. However, now it is mostly purchased from artisans or stores. With hand embroidery becoming expensive, some opt for attire with less expensive surface design/handwork. As new fabrics and embellishments enter the market, attire is made with them. During Navratri 2023, the fashion was colourful plain chaniya (skirt) with an odhna of a pastel shade.  

BG: Traditionally have women of different communities worn different attire?
Dr Utpala Desai: Traditional attire as well as ornaments vary from community to community. The embroidery, style and flare of the chaniya (skirt) is different and unique to each community. In fact, the colour and embroidery of the chaniya is an identity marker of the community and region of the dancer. For instance, women of the Mer community, who live in Porbander, wear a red skirt and green blouse, a long and heavy gold necklace chandan har with large earrings. The skirts worn by the women of the Koli community, who live in Bhavnagar, are embroidered, however, they not have mirrors stitched on and there is no embroidery at the back of the skirt that touches the place where the wearer sits. 


Image: Garba performance at a school. Image Courtesy Utpala Desai.

The   women of the Thakor community wear voluminous colourful skirts stitched with 12-15 metres cloth; women of the Bharwad shepherd community wear a wraparound skirt called Jimy of a woollen cloth called Dhunsi. Women from Kutch wear skirts with soof or aari embroidery (depending on the community they are from). The skirts worn by Rabaris are typically of Persian blue with pink embroidery.

Traditionally, blouses worn by women also have community-specific embroidery. The odhna may also be colourful and/or of a colour that complements the skirt and blouse. Women of the Mer community traditionally wear an odhna that has bandhani (tie-dyed) patterns. The colour, embroidery and design specifications - that were traditionally adhered to convey community, identity and status of the wearer -strictly apply to rural areas. Today, when attire is made for stores in urban areas, the surface design, colours and style of the attire are variable and do not convey community or identity..   

Embroidery in Gujarat survived because embroidered textiles were part of the trousseau. Garba has kept the demand for traditional attire and thus the crafts related to the attire alive. Thus, artisans from tie-dyers to embroiderers and artisans who make embellishments such as mirrors for mirror-work embroidery have had demand for their work.  


Image: Stage performance of Garba. Image Courtesy Utpala Desai.

BG: Is it possible for textile enthusiasts to see and buy different traditional attire?
Dr Utpala Desai: Traditional attire is still worn by women in some places such as in Kutch. It can be seen in private collections and museums. Vintage attire is available in a few stores that collect and keep old textiles and attire. New attire can be purchased from artisans, stores and boutiques. In Ahmedabad one can get handmade attire at Banascraft and the stalls near Law Garden. In Vadodara one can get a wonderful variety of attractive Garba attire at Nava Bazar. The Shreyas Museum in Ahmedabad has displays of traditional attire of different communities that is similar to what would have been worn during Garba.  

For those wishing to learn more about Garba, the Gujarat University in Ahmedabad offers a short course in the study of Garba. There are dance academies with professional troupes who perform Garba at functions. Many visitors to Gujarat, from different parts of India and overseas, enjoy participating in Garba complete with traditional attire! 

Dr Utpala Desai: Utpala9@gmail.com