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Navratri
Nine nights of the goddess, with Garba and Dandiya in Gujarat and a chosen colour for each day in many homes.
What is worn for Navratri
Navratri, the "nine nights" of the autumn month, honours the goddess in her forms as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. In Gujarat and nearby towns the evenings belong to Garba and Dandiya Raas, circle dances in which women usually wear the chaniya choli: a flared, embroidered skirt, a short blouse and a dupatta, often with mirror work, bandhani tie-dye or patchwork. Many women elsewhere wear a saree instead, and in some households and offices a colour is picked for each of the nine days. Sarees in red, yellow, green and orange are common, and silk or zari is kept for the main puja nights.
The sarees
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Navaratri" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bandhani: RubyGoes, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source