Navaratri 2022: Specially-abled children groove to Garba in Gujarat
New Delhi: Navaratri is a Hindu festival that is celebrated annually to mark the victory of goddess Durga over a buffalo demon named Mahishasura. The festival began on Monday, September 26, 2022, and will end with Dusshera on October 05, 2022.
The festivities are associated with the goddess Durga and the battle that ensued between the goddess and the buffalo demon, Mahishasura. The nine days and nights are dedicated to the nine different avatars of the goddess. The avatars are collectively referred to as Navdurga. Each day signifies the incarnation of a goddess.
The festival of dancing all night is back after a two-year long hiatus and has gotten people from across the country grooving to the dandiya beats and putting their best foot forward.
The Navaratri festive fervour gripped several Indian regions, especially the western India. From an impromptu garba in a Mumbai local, people of Udaipur playing garba in a swimming pool, to the Indian Railways serving an elaborate intermittent fast menu to passengers, the social media is replete with instances of the grand celebrations across the county.
Another spectacular video of garba from Vadodara recently surfaced. The fifth day of the Navaratri festivities saw scores of people playing garba in a large, vibrant circle, as captured by a drone. The dance and revelry was witnessed on a grand scale last night after a gap of two years.
The drone captured an aerial view of the cultural union as a large number of devotees had gathered in a gigantic circle to play garba on the fifth day of the Navaratri festivities on Friday, September 30, 2022.
However, another incident came to light when a Raas garba was organised in the Bhutnath Mahadev temple of the Junagadh district of Gujarat.
Visually challenged girls and mentally challenged children from the temple surprised the onlookers when they started grooving to the beats of the garba music.
It was as if the blind could see with their mind’s eye, while the mentally challenged kids danced in perfect sync with the steps and the rhythm of the devotional music.
The dance has been annually organised for the specially-abled kids since the past eight years. The donators have also begun to notice the art the challenged kids possess.
Junagarh is replete with several institutions that provide necessary treatment, education, and various other trainings to physically and mentally recover.
The elaborate garba event was organised by the Vaikalang Vidyarthi Circle Trust this year, along with teaming up with organisations including blind daughters of Satyam Seva Yuvaka Mandal, children of Mangalamurthi Mentally Handicapped Trust, Santvan Education Trust, Samprat Education Trust and Astha Education Trust Keshod.
A total of 70 children participated in the garba and presented their talent to the public and the available audience. The programme is being organised since the last eight years in the Patangan of Bhutnath Mahadev Temple.
The specially-abled children have been relocated and have been living in the temple premises for eight years, including the blind girls. Nearly 80 boys and girls from four institutes showcase their dancing skills and inherent talent to the audiences and general public.
“During the upcoming days, we plan on taking these children with disabilities on a trip, therefore taking them to different places and trying to give them information about the places so that they can understand better and know what the outside world is like. We are also trying in this regard,” The President of the Handicapped Students Circle said.
(Avya Mathur)
