Gharba

Garba

The leading dance of women in Gujarat, is associated withthe fertility cult. For the nine nights of Navaratri, an autumn festival,women come out into the open and with perforated earthen pots holding lighted lambs poised on the head sing, clap and dance a simple, circular dance, in honour of the goddess Amba. At times men too dance, by singing and clapping,and the dance is known as Garbi. Traditionally the Garba is intended to be danced only at night and as a votive offering. In an evolved version,the dance can be performed for its own sake and at any time. Among the functional dances in India, the Tippani is one. It is danced by women labourers in parts of Saurashtra, to relieve tedium, as part of the beating of the floor with wooden mallets, in the construction of a house.

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