East-West Times…Information you desire

T
he whirling dancers, clapping hands, distinct sound of wooden sticks struck together, toe tapping music and people wearing colorful clothes marked the Navratri celebration at the Garba & Dandiya Raas dances held all over Florida. This is part of the worship of Durga Mata who symbolizes the victory of good over evil; the Navratri celebration marks a festival of nine nights during which Hindus worship goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, the goddesses of health, prosperity and knowledge, respectively. While Navratri and Dussehra (the 10th day) are celebrated by Hindus with regional variations, the most famous one is from the state of Gujarat in India.
In Central Florida, Gujarati Society of Central Florida and the Hindu Temple in Casselberry/Orlando celebrated Navratri with great enthusiasm. The Gujarati Society had rented the gymnasium of Lyman High School in Longwood and transformed it into a shrine decorated in traditional manner with fabrics draping the stand and Deity of the
Goddess decorated with flowers to recreate the atmosphere is a Navratri venue in Gujarat. The event started and ended with prayers and bhajans to the Goddesses. While many took to the floor dancing until the wee hours of the morning, some sat on the bleachers either taking a break or just watching the energetic and graceful dancers. Near the entrance were stalls were set up to sell jewelry, clothes and decorative items.
According to Mr. Neelkanth Kapadia, president of Gujarati Society of Central Florida (GSCFL), more than 3,000 attended each day of the weekend events of October 8, 9, 15 & 16th. He added that this massive celebration was successful because, “Preparations start six months prior to the event as decisions regarding the venue, music group, etc. had to be made well in advance for a successful event. Closer to the event regular weekly meetings were held to ensure that the event runs smoothly. We had the help of about 35 volunteers.” Previously the Navratri festival was held at Dr. Phillips High School and moved to the current venue in 2008.
It seems appropriate that the GSCFL held its Navratri fests in high schools for the past 20 plus years….it indeed was packed with youth who participated in the dances like it was a scene from a Broadway musical…many were dancing in groups within the Garba and Dandiya Ras circle. The musicians came all the way from India - Lakhiya music group from Ahmedabad and a Kentucky based group led by Raj Pandya ensured that the music was traditional as well as more upbeat with a touch of Bollywood. The attraction of Garba & Dandiya Ras for the younger generation was voiced by Neal H. Patel, a recent college graduate, who attend all Navratri dances at the Hindu temple and at Lyman “For me, Navratri is one of the best times of year; you are with friends and family for an auspicious occasion, but at the same time you also enjoy doing garba. The Gujrati Samaj did a great job hosting garba and trying to get the younger generation more involved.”
The music and the colorful dancers made 6th grader Niyati Shah feels like “There is something in the air that keeps me dancing. And that something is the excitement and energy from Durga Maa, the goddess of Shakti (which) helps me in everything I do, from Bharatnatyam to schoolwork. Thank you Durga Maa!” Parents and grandparents who migrated from Gujarat will be proud to see that this somewhat rural and folk dance is kept alive and now the youth have found it to be cool and exciting to honor the divine energy with each one. “This was the best Navratri I ever had, said Akash Patel, age 14; he added “I learned garba from my mom just because I love the music and have fun with friends and family. The best part was …Disco Dandiya, that’s what majority of the teens want. We love Gujarati Society for organizing this event.” These youngsters give a broad spectrum of the celebration – devotion and dance.
The volunteers and the officers of GSCFL ensured that the 4 days of Navratri celebration was excellent. Mr. Tino Patel said, “All the people from 2 yrs old to seniors loved the vibrations generated by Goddess Amba (another name for Sri Durga). The energy was very positive and all left with smile. We are very fortunate to have good volunteers that provided selfless service to the community”. This was echoed by a very happy attendee Mr. Chaitanya Patel who described the event in ecstatic manner: It was an excellent, enjoyable, exceptional event presented by GSCFL Team. Volunteers, organizing committee and all participants deserve great compliments.
At the Hindu temple community hall the Garba and Dandiya Ras was celebrate all nine nights with a mix of traditional pujas from different regions of India . The hall was packed every night with families and with overflowing crowd during the weekends. An interesting aspect was the participation of people from the different states, people who had never seen or danced the garba; they joined in circular dance and picked up the steps by watching, and for some of the nights local college students were given free entry as many had never seen Garba dance. The temple organizers led by Mahendra Kapadia, Hasmukh Mistry, Dr. Rajesh Patel, Bhupendra Nayee, Srinivas Jaragula, Ganesh Ramachandran and many other volunteers who worked very hard to ensure the success of the temple Navratri event.
The HSCF temple community hall was livened up with music by Rawal Brothers and the center shrine to the four Goddesses gave it a devotional feel. Amongst the dancers at the Hindu temple were the mother and daughter team of Leena and Trisha Chhaganlal who transformed a simple garba into an artistic performance.
The highlight of the dances at both venues was the Dandiya Ras, where dancers use brightly decorated wooden sticks to tap in a duet like manner with the other dancers; it can become very energetic and is performed by men and women together as the music is fast and generally includes dhol – a traditional percussion instrument.
At the Hindu temple, Navratri was also celebrated by the Telegu group with a traditional puja performed during the nine day festival, it honors the “life giver” Bathukamma Panduga. More than fifty women performed a special puja on the eight day and sang and danced in a circle around the deity made of flowers. It is a cone shaped symbol made of seven concentric circles of vibrantly colored flowers to signify life, eternity as well as impermanence. The eighth day is known as Durga Ashtami and was also celebrated at the Hindu temple with a Chandi Havan and a Mata ki Jagran where the devotees played musical instruments like the harmonium, tabla & dholak and sang bhajans till midnight.
On the tenth day is the celebration of Dussehera, and there was Saraswati puja for youth at the Hindu temple and all four priests helped the youth perform the puja understand the meaning behind the ritual. More than 90 children ranging from ages 5 to 15 were gathered inside the temple to perform the pujas to ensure academic success, and Priest Shuklaji emphasized that “While Sri Saraswati helps students; it also means the students must study hard and listen to their parents to achieve that goal, and just praying will not be enough. But praying to Goddess Saraswati will remind you of this goal and the process”. Sri Saraswati is always depicted with Veena a musical instrument and the reason is that music is an important element in extending the limits of the mind, tapping it to the universal consciousness and gaining knowledge.