Garba leaves the shores of Gujarat

Whenever I hear garba beats, my Gujarati hand and feet can’t help but tap and sway, twirl and spin until dizzy. But as it turns out, a Gujarati heritage is no longer a prerequisite for a die-hard Garba fan. At a Dandiya night at my local high school in San Jose this year, I witnessed hundreds of enthusiasts, Gujarati or not, crammed together, busting move after move to heart-thumping Garba beats. 

The sight wasn’t too different from the Sheri Garbas of my childhood, where we squeezed through throngs and navigated our way through scooters parked in our housing society’s common areas. 

But that’s where the similarities end. Garba has come a long way since then.

More recently, some Gujaratis have taken their unapologetic enthusiasm to the streets– sometimes controversially – breaking into Garba at public places like the Burj Khalifa  and the streets of Austria. 

But there’s more to Garba than flash mobs in a circle.

Shakti & the Garba’s spiritual origins 

Long before it hit the global stage, Gujaratis had been doing the Garba for centuries with a much deeper purpose: religious, social, and spiritual. It is rooted in the practice of worshipping the Goddess Mother during Navratri, a festival named for its nine nights of celebrating the female shakti through diverse rituals across India. While Bengalis venerate Ma Durga for defeating Mahishasura in an epic nine-day battle, Gujaratis honor Ma Amba with Garba and daily aarati – an epic poem celebrating her divine presence each night of the lunar cycle.

Ma Amba’s murti, or idol, is traditionally accompanied by a Garbha Deep, a perforated clay pot with an illuminated lantern inside, Gujarati diaspora cultural commentator Jigisha Patel told me. The dance itself derives its name from the Sanskrit word Garbha, meaning womb. As dancers circle around the Garbha Deep, they honor the life growing inside a mother’s womb and the eternal circle of life, while the divine center remains constant and unchanged. It is this sacred connection that makes so many prachin (ancient) Garbas deep invocations and odes to Ma Amba.

From the everyday to the divine

Spiritual symbolism aside, it’s the social aspect that gives Garba its most enduring legacy. It offered a rare, uninhibited outlet for women to voice their everyday struggles. In one lighthearted song, a young daughter-in-law uses self-deprecating humor to poke fun at her ineptness with daily household chores. In another legendary Garba classic, “mehendi te vavi,”  a married woman expresses her reluctance to apply mehendi on her hands when her beloved husband, the true admirer of those hands, is in pardes, earning a living in foreign lands. The words lament virah (separation) and celebrate the joy of milan (union). 

Many arvachin (modern) Garba songs are duets that express the endearing banter of couples. 

And then there is the genre that combines both the divine and the romantic – compositions for  Lord Krishna. Regardless of gender, Garba dancers express their love for the ever-elusive Shyam, as if they are gopis themselves, asking him to come play raas with them. Raas, popularly known as Dandiya-Raas or plainly Dandiya, is one of the distinct forms on the Garba spectrum.

Apart from the widely popular Garba and Dandiya, the tradition includes several other distinct styles. These include Garbi, historically performed exclusively by men; Matki or Mandavi, where women balance on their heads an earthen pot holding a lit diya; and Tippani, which features wooden sticks symbolizing female laborers working in unison. 

From simple steps to complex choreography

Garba itself offers its own array of variations based on pace, beats and footwork, like the Be Taali, Tran Taali, Dodhiyu, and Poptiyu. Built on basic dance movements like the step, clap, swing, twirl, twist, hop, dip, and jump, Garba gives dancers the freedom to improvise as much or as little as they like. Paired with changing rhythms, this flexibility makes it an exceptionally inclusive art form for all. The two-beat slow tempo allows dancers of any age or ability to perform Be Taali (two-beat) to pay respect to Ma Amba, while the intricate patterns of Dodhiyu (one and a half) repeated at a high tempo can make even an experienced dancer dizzy. 

Although classified as a folk dance that requires no formal training, performers can build complex choreography, starting slowly, then moving on to demanding footwork, and ending in a crescendo. Where classical Indian dance demands precise technique, Garba thrives on improvisation, inclusivity, and collective evolution.

The collective evolution is further enriched by regional diversity, enhancing the styles from major cities like Vadodara, says singer, composer, and educator Hetal Brahmbhatt, founder of Bay Area-based Swaranjali Music Band and School. 

Hudo, a pastoral folk dance from Saurashtra, and Sanedo, with lyrics rooted in social commentary from northern Gujarat, have taken the Garba dance form beyond the devotional Natya Shastra, adding strength, vibrancy, and playfulness. 

Gujarati diaspora takes Garba global

The Gujarati diaspora’s commitment to their art form has made Garba synonymous with the Navratri festival for the entire Indian diaspora across the globe. Far removed from the days when a single dholi provided the beats for local women to pay homage to Ma Ambe for a few hours, Garba is now a serious business providing jet-setting lifestyles for popular Garba entertainers. Stage performances and competitions have drawn the otherwise tradition-averse younger generations, who have enthusiastically embraced the dance for its glitzy outfits and cardio workout.

Garba for the generations

Whether it’s late-night Taco Bell soirees for the South Asian Gen Z in the U.S. or a feast of fafda-jalebi in the wee hours after a night of twirling in Ahmedabad, Garba holds a universal appeal. “That’s what makes Navratri Garba the largest communal dance event lasting nine nights, unlike any other in the world,” says Aditya Patel, founder of Gurus of Dance, who likes to not only push the boundaries of the art form but also to give garba its due place among mainstream American dance forms.

Garba has survived the test of time; it has also evolved to include the tastes of several generations. The art form has transformed from simple vocals accompanied by a solo percussionist into high-decibel dance parties infused with synthesizers and amplifiers. Its movement has grown from a slow, meditative circle into high-energy, complex group choreography. It is an extraordinary celebration that brings together everything at once – pulsating beats, soulful lyrics, colorful attire, deep devotion, electrifying speed, boundless energy, and an unforgettable sense of community. 

In 2023, UNESCO included this traditional dance form from Gujarat in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  Garba truly belongs to the world, and I am thrilled to share it with anyone who is willing to take two steps sideways, two steps backward, followed by two twirls while clapping all through the night.

(Featured images via Wikimedia Commons by Anurag Agnihotri, Saurabh Sirohiya)
A version of this article appeared on Shachi Patel’s Substack.