What is the difference between garba and dandiya?
Garba and dandiya: what's the difference?
Two dances, one night, and a distinction almost every newcomer gets wrong — including people who have been going for years.
Garba comes first, and it is a circle
Garba is danced in concentric circles that move anticlockwise around a central point. Traditionally that centre holds a garbo — an earthen pot, often perforated and lit from within — or an image of the goddess. The name and the dance both take their sense from that centre: everything turns around it.
The steps are made with the body and hands rather than any prop. A basic two-clap step is the one almost every circle starts with, and the whole room can do it within a few minutes. Speed builds through the night, and the more intricate footwork tends to appear in the inner rings where the experienced dancers gather.
Dandiya raas uses sticks, and it is usually later
Dandiya raas is danced with a pair of short decorated sticks, one in each hand, struck against a partner's in time with the music. Dancers typically form two lines or a rotating circle so that you change partner every few bars.
It is commonly understood as a stylised depiction of the battle between the goddess Durga and the buffalo demon Mahishasura — the sticks standing in for her sword. Most organisers run garba first and bring dandiya in later in the evening, once the floor is warm and people have found their footing.
How to tell which one is happening
If you arrive mid-evening and are not sure which dance is in progress, the quickest tells are these.
- Circles moving anticlockwise with no props — garba.
- Two facing lines, or pairs rotating, with sticks — dandiya raas.
- Claps carrying the rhythm — garba.
- A wooden click on the beat — dandiya.
- Earlier in the night — usually garba. Later — usually dandiya.
Do you need to know either one beforehand?
No. The outer ring of a garba circle is where beginners stand, and it moves at a pace designed to be joined. The two-clap step is learned by watching the person in front of you for a minute.
Dandiya is slightly less forgiving because you are working with a partner and a timing, but the lines are patient with newcomers and the sticks are usually available at the venue if you do not own a pair.