Garba is also commonly used to refer to a Circular Dance
Garba is the name given to a Pot which forms the centrepiece of the Circular Dance and which usually has a
Deep (a lighted wick placed inside)
The songs to which the Circular Dance takes place are known as Garbas or Garbis
The Pot contains a Deep which means light. The light represents the Divine shining through the perforations and the Pot symbolises the womb universe.
This combination of Pot and light is known as a Garba Deep The Garba Deep has another symbolic
interpretation, that the vessel itself is a symbol of the body, within whom Divinity (in the form of the Goddess) resides. Garba is danced around this symbol to honour the fact that all humans have the Divine energy within them
The dances which are performed around the Pot are called Garba.
Initially women will start dancing in a counter clockwise circular form around the Pot, with each dancer following the same sweeping motion, with differing vigor and clapping at regular and frequent phases.
The dances celebrate femininity and fertility and venerate a range of Divine Mother Goddesses
The songs and tunes to which the Garba dance takes place, are also known as Garba or Garbis. These compositions have been handed down over the generations and their words and themes range from the spiritual to the social.
The way that the melody and rhythm are composed influence the movement of the dancers and vice versa.
Garba is performed in a circle as a symbol of the Hindu view of time. The rings of dancers revolve in cycles, as time in Hinduism is regarded as cyclical. EXPAND
Many dancers move in flowing rhythm, in balance and harmony, swift and speedy, in an instance they disappear to the far side, only to reappear a few minutes later, twirling and swirling away, spinning and whirling away, again and again, again and again, round and around, round and around,
dancing
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dancing
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