More than 200 people were gathered for the Garba Dance Festival at Albert Park in Suva on Saturday night. The event was in commemoration with the Hindu tradition called Navratri.

The celebration, which was organised by Alweera Events, was a charity event

According to Events co-ordinator Shaeen Khan: “The purpose of organising this amazing festival during Navratri was to bring other religious groups together to enjoy Garba dance to the fullest on this auspicious moment.”

Ms Khan said the money collected would be used to buy meals for residents of the Samabula Old Peoples Home.

“This was my seventh event in three years that I hosted on my own and it was successful, and I am planning to organise more events in the future,” she said.

Garba is a traditional Gujarati folk dance celebrated in Navratri, a celebration lasting nine nights. Garba songs typically revolve around the subjects of the nine goddesses. Garba styles vary from place to place in Gujarat.

The festival commemorates the prominent battle that took place between Durga and the demon Mahishasura and celebrates the victory of good over evil.

These nine days are solely dedicated to the Goddess Durga and her nine Avatars – the Navadurga. Each day is associated to an incarnation of the goddess.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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