Navratri Across India: Garba, Durga Puja, Golu and Bathukamma

Few festivals show India's regional variety as clearly as Navratri. The same nine nights are marked by circle dances in the west, grand community worship in the east, doll displays in the south and flower festivals in the Deccan. Here are four of the best-known forms.

Gujarat: Garba and Dandiya

In Gujarat and parts of western India, evenings revolve around Garba, a circular dance performed around a lamp or an image of the goddess, and Dandiya Raas, in which dancers strike decorated sticks in rhythm. The word garba is linked to garbha, the womb, and the lamp at the centre symbolises life. In December 2023, UNESCO added Garba of Gujarat to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Dancers wear colourful chaniya cholis and kediyu kurtas, and many neighbourhood grounds hold nightly events. Traditional Garba is sung devotionally, though modern events also use popular music.

West Bengal and the east: Durga Puja

In Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Tripura the festival is Durga Puja, usually observed from Shashthi to Dashami, the last five days. Artisans build temporary pavilions called pandals and sculpt clay images of Durga with her children. Rituals include the opening of the goddess's eyes, the offering of anjali, drumming with dhak, and on the last day the sindoor khela and the immersion of the image. In 2021 UNESCO inscribed Durga Puja in Kolkata on the same heritage list. The mythology behind it is explained in Mahishasura Mardini.

Tamil Nadu and the south: Golu

Families in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh arrange dolls on a stepped platform, called Golu, Bommai Kolu or Bombe Habba. The steps are odd in number, and the dolls depict gods, scenes from the epics, daily life and heirloom figures. Neighbours are invited to visit, singing is shared, and guests receive small gifts. On Saraswati Puja and Ayudha Puja, books and tools are worshipped, which many people observe on the ninth day.

Telangana: Bathukamma

In Telangana women create tall, layered arrangements of seasonal flowers, called Bathukamma, and sing and dance around them in the evening. The festival begins around Mahalaya and runs for about nine days. The flower stacks are carried to a lake or river at the end. The name is often translated as "mother goddess, come alive".

A shared thread

What links these traditions is community. Whether the setting is a courtyard, a street pandal or a living room, Navratri is a time when people gather. Many of them also continue into the tenth day, Dussehra, which has its own regional customs described in Dussehra traditions around India.