Navratri spirit reaches its peak on the last day

Nagpur: With Friday being the last day of Navratri, the spirit of garba nights at various places reached its crescendo. Irrespective of religion, the venues were filled with people from all backgrounds who wanted to partake in the spirit and dance.

On Thursday, organizers of Surbhi dandiya hosted a neon-themed dance event at Naivedhyam Eastoria where visitors were given neon belts and lights were dimmed to have a scintillating effect.

"We distributed nearly 1,200 belts, and it was the first time we thought of this. Earlier, we used to give each participant a lighted diya to dance with. But that isn't possible now at an indoor venue. So we opted for neon belts," said Harish Suchak, founder of Surbhi. He said that the celebration will go on till 3am on Friday and end with an 'aarti' of Goddess Durga at 4am.

Sankalp is now in its 18th year, said director Trupti Kamdar. Being held at Canal Garden, Old Kamptee Road, the organizers are expecting a crowd of nearly 3,000 people. "A mega competition has been organized between winners of all nine days, who will be given cash prizes. Apart from that, we will have a mega 'aarti' at 12am," informs Kamdar.

Raas Garba organized by Kumkum celebration at IT Building, Empress Mall had a mega competition on Friday with several prizes for different categories like best male, female and best dressed and so on.

"All nine days, we had a dress code for the visitors. Some visitors also came in unique outfits with the aim of supporting a cause," said co-director Chirag Joshi.

Gujarati community, besides organizing dandiya events, also upped their innovative ideas. Last Sunday evening, Bisa-Lad Samaj in Wardhaman Nagar had competition for rangolis made of 'otti', a term for the basket of offerings sold for pujas. Colourful rangolis comprising grains, coconut, paan, supari and other articles were made by women, said president Neha Wani.

A competition of bouquets made of garam masala such as bay leaves, cloves and more was organized for the first time. Garba events were organized especially for small children where they came dressed as characters of Mahabharat.

Members of Mod Samaj also organized a thali competition at the house of one of its members in Mahal where the house was decorated in a unique way by senior citizens, said Bharti Bisawal. A competition was also held.

All dancers were clad in shades of orange at the event organized by Gujarati Mahila Samaj at Gujarat Bhavan, Sitabuldi.

"Earlier, such competitions were largely attended by old women. However, this year, the competition was divided into four categories, and several youngsters participated," said president Kavita Shah and added that there were also prizes for the best dressed dancer.