Devoted to Goddess Shakti, the Navratri festival in Rajasthan is celebrated with gaiety and fervor. The main highlight of the festivity of nine nights is the folk dance of Gujarat called Garba. It is said that each day Goddess Durga manifests herself in different forms.
Each day of the fiesta begins with performance of Aarti. People from across the country would come to Rajasthan to celebrate the festival and get energized by the thought of celebrating the Navratri festival for nine days starting from October 05 to 13, 2013.
People dressed up in beautiful traditional attire perform the Garba folk dance around the statue of Goddess Shakt till late midnight. The dancers usually make use of dandiya, i.e. long wooden sticks, to play garba. During the nine day long festivity, clubs and gathering places are enthused with decoration, colorful lights, tempting food stalls and interesting games.
One can see passion, devotion and enthusiasm of the people with which they indulge in the festive activities of the Navratri season. Devotees from different regions celebrate the festival in different ways, according to their rituals but the thoughts and devotion behind the celebration of Navratri are the same.
The next day after Navratri festival is Dussehra that is observed to celebrate the triumph of Lord Rama over the demon Ravana.
