THE SEA GUARDIAN LIFEGUARD

Navratri

Navaratri is a nine day festival that honors Hindu goddessesm MA AMBA . Navaratri began Friday, October 12, 2007 and ends Saturday, October 20, 2007 this year.
It begins Tuesday, September 30, 2008 and ends Wednesday, October 08, 2008 next year.

The 9 nights festival of Navratri begins on the first day of Ashwina of the bright fortnight. Seeds are sown, sprouting is watched, the planets are consecrated, and on the 8th and 9th days, Goddess Durga, Vijayashtami and Mahanavami are worshipped।

The Devi Mahatmya and other texts invoking the Goddess who vanquished demons are cited.
The day after Navratri i.e. the 10th day after Ashwina, is Dussera which celebrates the victory of lord Rama over Ravana. Ravana is burnt in effigy, often giant dummies of Ravana stuffed with fireworks are shot with arrows until they blow up before a large, applauding audience.

The Celebration

Garba (Gujarati: ગરબા Garbā), is an Indian form of dance that originated in the Gujarat region. Unlike other famous types of Indian dance such as bharatanatyam and odissi, garba is much more similar to Western social dancing than the presentational style of the others. The greatest difference between garba and western social dancing is that it is circular and is religious in origin.
The name garba comes from the Sanskrit term Garba Deep. Garba, when translated, most closely resembles the English preposition inside, and Deep is a small earthenware lamp. For this reason, many traditional garbas are performed around a central lit lamp. Traditionally, it is performed during a nine-day festival called Navarātrī (Gujarātī નવરાત્રી Nava = 9, rātrī = nights). Traditionally, either the lamp (the Garba Deep), or an image of Amba is placed in the middle of the concentric rings as an object of veneration, thereby delineating the dance. People dance around the deity clapping rhythmically. At every step they gracefully bend sideways, the arms coming together in sweeping gestures, up and down, left and right, each movement ending in clap.

The Dandiya Raas dance
Modern garba is also heavily influenced by raas (Gujarātī: ડાંડીયા DāNDīyā), a dance traditionally performed by men. The merger of these two dances has formed the high-energy dance that is seen today.

Tomorrow 21st October Dussera

Mataji's Visarjan on Juhu Beach and other Beachs of Mumbai. People start comming on Juhu beach From Morning 4am on wards. Major part of city is beefedup with high security in Mumbai and Thane.