Celebrating Garba Dandiya on Navratri Festival 2022 in Mumbai

“Excitement of Celebrating Navratri after 2 years, this year 2022 is like any other major traditional festival in Mumbai. As soon as Ganpati Visarjan is done, messages of 9 colours of Navratri 2022 are getting viral on mobiles.

People, Especially females get busy shopping for dress & accessories for those special 9 days as it is time to show off your dancing skills in the best traditional attires and accessories to look at your best at famous venues in Mumbai where people gathers in thousands.

More to add, on pre-Navratri days excitement are the Garba dance practice to learn new dance steps, and many amateurs learn the basics to dance for the first time wearing those 9 shades of colors each day. Commuting is exciting as people follow wearing the colors in the daytime too and the view is simply superb.

Large Image Of Garbo

How Mumbai Celebrates Festival of Navratri

This year 2022, Seems like Dancing in Rains as it is almost Mid September and rains are in full force, The famous waterlogging news of Mumbai is still in the headlines, Yet the excitement of Navratri & Dance has not been reduced by 1%.

The Festival of Navaratri is celebrated by the Gujarati community (Hindu Religion) in Mumbai, Navi & Suburbans like Gujarat state which majors in India. It is a very famous dance form called Dandiya and Garba Raas which goes in groups for all 9 nights till 10:00 Pm, Starting around 7 Pm.

The traditional specialty of this festival is the rituals of welcoming Goddess ‘AMBE’ also called ‘MAA DURGA’, ‘MATAJI’, ‘AMBE MAA’ at home & at sarvajanik / public venues for 10 days in the form of a mud pot called ‘Garbo’, beautifully decorated and colored. It is an old tradition and believed that Goddess resides here for all these days.

For those 9 days, the mud pot is enlightened by keeping a small ‘DIYA’ (Small Traditional Fire Light) which is ON continuously inside the pot till the 10th day. Tiny holes are designed which allow the required oxygen and ventilation to keep the fire lit up.

The first day is very special traditionally, As those Gujarati housewives who celebrate Navratri at home wear a special Gujarati saree OR Ghagra Choli OR Chaniya Choli (All these are Gujarati traditional outfits) and go out in the market to purchase Garba (Mud Pot).

Young girls in the family are equally excited to go out with other elderly to purchase the beautifully decorated ‘GARBO’ which costs anywhere from Rs.150 to Rs.500, Rs.1000, and more.

Housewives keep fasting and do the first ritual ‘Aarti’ and welcome Goddess Ambe to their home in the form of that ‘Garbo’ and lits the Fire light inside. Members of the family worship goddess by doing Aarti & rituals twice every day for the health, wealth, and prosperity of family members.

This festival is celebrated for 10 days (i.e 9 Nights and including the 10th day to be specific) and the mythology story behind the same is said to be the continued fight that went between Goddess AMBE and RAVANA (Evil side) that ended on Dussehra.

On DUSSEHRA, the 10th day she killed Ravana (The Evil form) which brought happiness all over. So ‘DUSSEHRA’ is celebrated as Hindu New Year by Gujarati Community on the 10th day of Navratri.

Mumbai’s Famous Temples to Visit During Navratri

Although every temple in the locality of ‘Maa Ambe’ (Goddess Durga) is visited by locals, especially for all these 9 days, Mumbai City has 3 major temples which are famous otherwise too and attracts devotees in lakhs during this festive season.

First and one of the oldest temple is Mahalakshmi Mata Mandir which can be reached from Mahalaxmi or Mumbai Central railway station. Special Ghatasthapana (Garbo) with Aarti and other rituals are done early morning at 5 AM every day.

Another famous and oldest temple of Mumbai known during Navratri celebrations is Mumbadevi.

This temple also does the rituals and aarti early morning and after 5:30 Am, a huge crowd visits especially on the first day of the festive season to get all the blessings. Ghatasthapana at Mumbadevi is done at 7:30 Am and the temple is kept open till late at night instead of the regular 10:00 PM timings for all these 9 days.

The third famous temple of Mumbai which celebrates Navratri is about 4 centuries old and is located at ‘Matunga’ station (Western railway route) called ‘Marubai Gaondevi Temple’. It is also a beautiful temple, enlightened equally like other famous temples all these days.

Wonder how the name Matunga came up? The area with many villages inside was called ‘Marubai Tekdi Gaon’ which was later named Matunga by Britishers.

Address: Near Aurora Talkies, Opp. Shri Marubai Gaondevi Mandir Chowk, Nathalal Parekh Marg, Matunga, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400019.

Lastly, do visit the beautiful Sanyas Ashram temple of Vile parle, Very near to Railway station on West side.

About Dandiya and Garba Raas Dancing

Refer, Updates dance venues of 2019 if you want to know which all places to visit to enjoy Garba & dandiya dances. These are paid public venues.

Not just Mumbai celebrates the Navratri festival, It is famous and well known that this is the one festival widely celebrated around India in major places like (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and others).

Dance is the major attraction for all 9 nights (So the word NAV-RATRI). Garba and Dandiya are 2 different forms of cultural dance followed all around. The most authentic and beautiful dance performances of Garba are seen at the big famous venue in Mumbai and at major locations of Gujarat like Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, and others.

At any given time, about 2 to 5 thousand and more people dance inside a huge ground beautifully decorated. Chaniya Choli and Ghagra Choli are the authentic dress of Navratri for females. Males wear Kediyu which goes well in groups with beautiful well-dressed girls. Alternate to Kediyu is kurta’s.

Although dance forms and steps differ from state to state, the fun and excitement are all same around. Talking about Mumbai, people prefer Orchestra music with live singers rocking the huge stage with famous Gujarati songs. The fun continues and rocks with faster moves when the singer picks up a famous Bollywood number with a perfect remix of Garba.

The rush day times may not give you the feel, But wait till evening and as soon it’s 7:00 Pm the environment all around the location will speak all about. Youth are seen in groups in all beautiful traditional outfits, ready to rock the venue as it is the most awaited dancing day that lasts for just 9 days during the later days of monsoon which gives some challenges at times during dance.

There are famous bands and singers group especially known during Navratri and people are ready to spend anywhere between Rs.500 to Rs.5000 to dance at their performances. Some known Navratri singers / Bands are Falguni Pathak Orchestra, Preeti Pinki Orchestra, Musa Paik, and Others creating the perfect environment for all these 9 nights.

The cost of an entry ticket depends on the day. Weekend rates are on a bit higher side compared to weekdays. Saturday & Sunday goes heavy on pocket too and the highest is on the last day, The 9th night of Navratri.

Bhuleshwar, Borivali, and Malad markets are jammed from 1 month till the first day in Mumbai as these places are known for Navratri dress and accessories special markets at cheaper rates. The dress rental business earns well during all these days of celebrations.

Since political parties started supporting festivals in Mumbai and Sponsoring sifts and cash prices, The celebration has become a mega event with big brands and money involved. The beauty is that Housing societies also are seen celebrating and enjoying the dance in their own beautiful ways.

Especially, housewives, kids, and elderly people who are unable to go to these famous venues for any reason enjoy the Garba and Dandiya dance inside the building premise.

The Fun last from 10:00 Pm to 10:30 late at night. A few years before it used to last till 11:30 and 12:00 at night, But due to security reasons the restrictions are applied and everyone has to adhere to the same, Be it a Mega famous venue or a small housing society or local place event.

Famous Navratri Orchestra and Bands Performers of Mumbai

Note : This section details generic & old information till last year.

Every year these famous bands perform at different places. In the last few days, we come to know the where about of this performance since the money involved is huge. Yet, Below are list and famous locations of top Navratri Bands performing every year pulling crowds in lakh every day.

Till Past Years

• Falguni Pathak Sankalp Dandiya Band: People are really eager from months before “Where is Falguni Pathak Performance this year ?” and most of the time it ‘Kora Kendra’ Borivali OR Goregaon Sports Club at Link Road Malad (West) and the fees/cost per ticket on Saturday and Sundays are high. The approximate cost is between Rs.300/- and 500/-. Most of the time season pass for all ten days are also available.
• Preeti Pinky’s Rangeelo Raas Dandiya: So where is Preeti Pinky Performing this Navratri? They are at Chitrakoot Ground, Link Road, Andheri (West) for the 2009 performance, and Tickets cost about Rs.500/- with the option of the season pass for Rs.2100 (Couple) & Rs.1600 (Single).
• Other Famous Bands – Aadesh Shrivastava’s Garba Nachle, Nilesh Thakkar’s Dandiya Utsav, Crazy Beats Orchestra’s Aav Albeli Naar, Dandiya Nights by Rangat Beats.
• For more comprehensive details see Famous Navratri venues for Dandiya and Garba in Mumbai.

Other Famous Places for Navratri Dandiya and Garba

Some of the famous locations to go for Garba and Dandiya nights are the Sports complex at Goregaon Malad Link Road, Kora Kendra Ground at Borivali (West), Chitrakoot Ground at Andheri (West), Ghatkopar Gujarati Samaj Dandiya Festival, Shobhagya Park Near Kandivali Station Opposite Sona Talkies, Juhu tulip star at Juhu tara road Mumbai, Jasodha Rang Mandir behind Bhaidas Hall Vile parle (West), Police Hockey Ground which is opposite Kukreja Palace, VB Lane Extension, Ghatkopar (East).

Navratri Dance Videos

Garbo at Home

Mumbai Style Dance

Dandiya Garba Dance Steps 1

Dandiya Garba Dance Step 2

Dandiya Garba Dance Step 3

Famous Dandiya Public Venue Kora Kendra

Dandiya’s

Kid Dancing inside Navratri Pandal

Sarvajanik Navratri Utsav in City

Navratri Dandiya Garba Stage For Singers

Aarti Ritual Daily

9 Colours of Navratri 2022

This year, i.e 2022, the People of Mumbai are too excited, Especially the youth Garba dancers who missed Garba and Dandiya dance for the last 2 years due to Corona restrictions. They and Office & Job working people are awaiting to grab attention from others by wearing those special 9 colours of dress on every day of this festive.

So what are those 9 colours this year (i.e 2022)? Here they are White, Red, Royal Blue, Yellow, Green, Grey, Orange, Peacock Green, and Pink. You can wear any style outfit (preferably traditional) for all these 9 days and join the excited crowd who celebrates every moment of this festive season.

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