Elegant clothing, diverse fellowship, rhythmic beats, joyful dancing and songs from a foreign land filled the Union Royal Cotillion Ballroom Friday night as the Indian Student Association celebrated Navratri at Garba and Dandia night.
Garba and Dandia are two dances originating in the Indian city of Gujrati. Navratri, which means nine nights, is the annual season of the celebration, said Shreehanth Balasubramanian, a computer science graduate student.
The dances were originally a form of worship done in glorification of the mother goddess Durga.
“[Durga] is a jewel-covered idol bearing a sword which represents the victory she gives us over evil,” Balasubramanian said.
For the nine nights of Navrati, people in the northern and western parts of India dance around the idol for hours in celebration as women sing in the Gujrati language, said Ray Suxena, a computer science graduate student and ISA cultural secretary.
However, Suxena said the Indian Student Association did not intend Friday’s event to be a religious ceremony.
“There’s nothing religious about it,” he said. “It’s like a dance, just to traditional music.”
Garba is a dance of intricate steps performed individually in a circle.
Dandia is performed using wooden sticks.
The dancers form two lines facing each other, also in a circle.
As they work themselves around the circle, they clang their sticks with the person standing in front of them and then continue down the line.
Valli Maninaran, an ISDS senior, said she likes events like these because it serves as a relief from the rigors of school.
“I like to release my energy,” she said. “I also like being able to get together with old friends I don’t get to see.”
There was no idol present as students and guests of all nationalities danced in circles around the ballroom.
Some American guests even wore the traditional clothing.
Women wore colorful outfits called ghagras. The men wore long skirts and pants called kurta pyjama.
“We look to bringing students and the Indian community together,” said Srinivas Thouta, a computer science graduate student. “It’s good that more than Indians come to these.”
Kelli Gambrel, a senior at Baton Rouge High, attended the event on the invitation of one of her Indian friends.
“It’s really exotic,” she said.
Many people from Baton Rouge’s Indian community also attended the dance.
Raj Patal, a Baton Rouge resident from India, said although Garba originated in northern and southern India, it is becoming popular all over India and in America, where Indians live.
“In big cities like Houston and Atlanta, about 10,000 people show up to events like this,” he said.