It was past 9.30 p.m. on the third day of Navaratri when the coastal town turned off the lights and went to sleep, but for a lone building on Dr. Abdul Kalam Street that was brightly lit. Children and elders clad in their traditional Gujarati costumes gathered at the Sri Jalaram Temple to watch musicians from Gujarat perform.
After the aarti and few minutes into the devotional music, the women and children stood up to begin the Garba dance. Nearly 100 people were present on that day. “Pondicherry Gujarati Samaj has been organising Navaratri festivities since 1984. After 20 years of celebrating the festival in Eshwaran Koil and a couple of years in a private property here, the Samaj has been celebrating the festival at the Sri Jalaram Temple for the past seven years,” said Nirav Manubhai Joshi, president, Pondicherry Gujarati Samaj.
He added that Gujarati community have been residing in Puducherry for the past five decades. “They were all scattered. In 1984, three elders decided to bring the community together and formed the Pondicherry Gujarati Samaj. The purpose was to pass on the values and traditions to the next generation,” he said.
He added that the Samaj bound the community together and provided emotional and financial support to each other and valued the traditions. “What are we without an identity,” he asked.
Every year, the Samaj organises celebrations for nine days during the Navaratri festival. The uniqueness of the festival is that there are no Bollywood numbers played during the Garba dance. “We follow the tradition with three forms of Garba which are performed for over an hour with six to seven devotional songs. After a 10-minute break, we perform Dandiya Raas. The celebration goes on till 12 a.m.,” he says.
Apart from the floating crowd, at least 100 people visit the temple for the nine days to perform Garba and Dandiya Raas every year.