Navratri festival

Image ID: 3650599

Caption : Women and children clad in traditional Gujarati dresses perform "Garba", a Gujarati folk-dance, to mark the forthcoming Navratri festival at a function organised by Namdhari Gaurav in Hyderabad on October 14, 2004. The characteristics of the Garba dance is that participants move round in a circle around a `mandvi' (garbo), a structure to hold earthen lamps and also houses the image or idol of the Mother Goddess. Women wear ethnic chania choli, while men wear dhoti-kurta and dance throughout the night. Though traditionally it is Gujarati folk dance form, its appeal has transcended regional barriers. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf.