Like every year, the fun filled frenzy surrounding the Durga Puja celebration in the Temple City is at a peak. The revellers are once again soaked in festive fervour while the glitz and glitter of Navaratri draws people across all age groups.
One event that stands out for catching the fancy of the youth in the city over the last few years is Dandiya Raas, a traditional folk dance of Gujarat and Rajasthan that is extending its pan-India appeal to Odisha too.
Dandiya Raas has a strong connection with Radha-Krishna Leela (divine play) and Vrindavan, a holy town in Uttar Pradesh. This is a dance that is performed by a group that includes both men and women. Participants dress up in colourful attire and carry small wooden sticks that they use for the performance. The sticks are used as props and are decorated with colourful cloth. While men don the kurta-pyjama, women look gorgeous in their traditional ghaghra-cholis.
Dandiya nights are major crowd-pulling events with hundreds of people gathering to enjoy the songs and dance. A number of groups have organised Dandiya events in unique styles in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack this year.
Besides, several star hotels, Puja pandals and youth organisations also arrange Dandiya events during the ten-day Navaratri festival. They rope in DJs, live bands and professional troupes to jazz up the events. Girls dressed in bright lehenga-cholis and designer sarees and boys in sherwanis and kurtas whip up a storm on the dance floor. “Apart from pandal hopping during Durga Puja, we enjoy our time on the dance floor. I also love dressing up in traditional attire,” said college student Sabya, a Dandiya enthusiast.
“My friends and I have been practicing Dandiya steps at home. This year the ‘Chogada’ song will be the favourite number of DJs, I think. Apart from ‘Chogada,’ ‘Mitron Mashup’ and Punjabi beats will surely be in demand,” she added.
Biswajeet, a software engineer from Cuttack, said, “Cuttack Dusshera is as popular as Dandiya dance festivals in Gujarat. But gradually the dance form is drawing young people in the city. Last year, I went to a Dandiya event with my friends and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Especially because you can dance even with people you don’t know. This year, we are planning to attend a Dandiya event in Bhubaneswar. However, we are still not sure whether it will be held with the Met department predicting stormy weather.”
The appearance of celebrities at such events draws more people to them. That apart, live band performances will be a major attraction this year with separate stages being arranged for children, youths and adults.
“Though the Dandiya events in the twin cities are different from those of Gujarat, it has still caught the fancy of youngsters. Such is the craze for Dandiya nights that girls start practicing their moves well in advance. In fact, competitions are held in many places,” said Raveena, a homemaker belonging to the Gujarati community.
For the girls, it is also an occasion to experiment with their clothes.
“I love to dress up in traditional outfits. My friends and I eagerly wait for Navaratri so that we can flaunt ourselves in traditional attire that has a contemporary touch too,” said Pratichi Parida of Bhubaneswar, a student.
Organisers of Dandiya events always try to come up with new ideas to make the event more attractive and increase footfall.
“We invite celebrities of the state and a few dancers from other countries to spice up the evenings. Apart from DJs and live orchestra, we make sure that delicacies such as pasta, chaat, phuchka, baby corn fritters and ice golas are available to the visitors,” said the manager of a Dandiya event.
“A wide variety of traditional Odia foods and snacks is also served at different venues in the Temple City. The aim is to re-energise the dancers when they take a break from the dance floor. Besides, toys and consumer goods stalls are put up to draw more people. Last year, the footfall was beyond our expectation,” he added.
Bhubaneswar is also set to organise the ‘National Integration Dandiya Festival,’ a ten-day dance extravaganza. Special programmes will be held every day during the festival. The organisers have planned plenty of events to make the occasion that is in its 13th year memorable. As Goddess Durga symbolises empowered and enlightened womanhood, a number of programmes were organised in the past to promote woman empowerment, recalled the organisers.
In a special gesture, the organisers have included some girls from local orphanages in the Dandiya Festival programmes while deaf and dumb girls will perform ‘Bhabani Asthakam’, a dance drama in Sanskrit. Besides, Sambhabi awards will be conferred on 100 women – 80 from Bhubaneswar and 20 from Puri – for their outstanding contributions in the social, economic and cultural fields, said the chairman of the event.
Apart from these events, the organisers would observe all the rituals of Durga Puja including Surya Puja and Saptasati Chandi Patha. In another unique tradition that has been observed for many years, pots of holy water from famous shrines of the Mother Goddess in the 30 districts of the state will be collected to be used in the rituals.
A Cuttack-based event manager said, “Dandiya nights are a must during Dussehra. Last year, as many as 300 people took part in the event. We arrange the event only for four days during the festival. Last year, a special award, instituted for couples, was given out every day while a Dandiya Queen and Dandiya King were selected on the concluding day of the festival. This year, we are planning to introduce ‘Garba,’ yet another folk dance form of Gujarat, and Disco Dandiya, a fusion of Disco and Dandiya, at some places. Our target is to attract people in the middle aged group to shake a leg at the event. It feels good to hear people saying that they not only enjoy the dance but also get health benefits from the participation.”
“The best thing about Dandiya nights is the fact that they promote inclusiveness. People of various age groups can come together and have some fun. People shed their inhibitions and display their dancing skills. It’s also an opportunity to make new friends,” said Shreya, who belongs to the Marwari community.
It is common to mix up Garba and Dandiya. The fact is that Garba is performed before Aarti, a ritual in honour of the goddess, while Dandiya is performed after completion of Aarti, as a part of merriment. Garba is performed mostly to the accompaniment of hand clapping. When women perform the dance, it is called Garba while the men’s dance is called Garbi. While Garba is performed to invoke the goddess, Dandiya symbolises a mock fight between the goddess and the demon king Mahishasura. It is also known as ‘The Sword Dance,’ according to some experts. During the performance, dancers energetically whirl and move their feet and arms in a choreographed manner to the rhythm of the music and drumbeats. Percussion instruments such as the dholak, tabla, and bongo are commonly used. The sticks (dandiyas) used in the dance represent the swords of Durga. Women wear traditional clothes, such as colourful embroidered ghagra-cholis with dazzling mirror work, and heavy jewellery. Men sport special turbans and kedias. However, there are regional variations.
SOYONG,OP