Walk into any Navratri garba night, in Ahmedabad or in Leicester, and the first thing you notice is not the music. It is a clay pot in the middle of the floor, punched with small holes, with a lamp burning inside so that dots of light spill across the ground. Hundreds of people circle it, clapping in time. That pot is the whole point.

Most guides call Garba "thousands of years old" and move on. I went looking for the oldest dated written trace of it, and found a song written by a 13-year-old boy.

What is Garba and why is it celebrated?

Garba is a devotional circle dance from Gujarat, performed during the nine nights of Navratri in worship of the Mother Goddess, Amba or Durga, around a perforated clay pot lit with a lamp. In December 2023, UNESCO added "Garba of Gujarat" to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, describing it as a "ritualistic and devotional dance" celebrating feminine energy, or Shakti.

“The dance takes place around a perforated earthenware pot lit with an oil lamp, or an image of the mother goddess Amba.”

— UNESCO, Garba of Gujarat, 2023 (courtesy: UNESCO)

The significance of the pot

The word garba is traced to the Sanskrit garbha, womb. The pot, called the garbo, stands for the womb, and the lamp inside for the life growing within it (courtesy: Wikipedia). Dancers circle the source of life itself: the Mother. Britannica adds a detail many guides leave out: in Gujarat, garba was traditionally also danced to mark a girl’s first menstruation and her coming marriage, as a celebration of fertility and womanhood (courtesy: Britannica). We looked at what the texts say about periods and worship in Can Hindu women pray during periods?

UNESCO also notes something social: garba "fosters social equality by diluting socio-economic, gender and religious structures". In a garba circle, nobody has a front row.

A night garba in a courtyard strung with fairy lights, women in colourful mirror-work chaniya cholis and men in white kediyu tops dancing and clapping in a circle around a lit perforated clay pot on a decorated stool — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
A garba circle: everyone turns around the lamp in the pot.

Your first garba night: what to wear

According to the Government of India’s Incredible India site, women traditionally wear the chaniya choli, and men wear the chorno, kediyu or dhoti (courtesy: Incredible India).

PieceWhat it isTip
ChaniyaA wide, flared skirt, often with mirror work and Kutchi embroideryMore flare looks better when you spin; cotton keeps you cooler
CholiA fitted, embroidered blouseCheck the back ties are secure before you start
Odhni / dupattaOften bandhani (tie-dye)Pin it so it does not slip mid-twirl
KediyuMen’s top, fitted at the chest and flared belowPairs with chorno (loose trousers) or dhoti
KotiSleeveless embroidered jacket, now worn by women and menAn easy way to dress up plain clothes
FootwearFlat juttis or mojaris, or barefoot where allowedAvoid heels; sprained ankles are common

For a garba workshop, a cotton kurta with leggings or jeans is fine; save the heavy outfit for the night itself. Keep jewellery light: big jhumkas and waist chains can tangle when you spin.

Flat lay of garba clothes on an off-white sheet: a red and green flared chaniya with mirror work, an embroidered choli and a red bandhani dupatta, silver jhumkas, bangles and a waist chain, embroidered flat juttis, a white kediyu, an embroidered koti and white chorno trousers — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
The women’s chaniya choli and the men’s kediyu, koti and chorno.

How to play Garba: a beginner’s guide

Step names vary by region. A guide from the International Festival of Arts and Ideas lists three common forms: be taali (two-clap), tran taali (three-clap) and hinch (courtesy: artidea.org).

  1. Find the direction. UNESCO notes the circle moves counter-clockwise. Watch from the edge for a minute first.
  2. Two-clap: step with the right foot, bend and clap; step with the left, clap again; move forward.
  3. Three-clap: the same, with a third clap raised high as you turn slightly.
  4. Hinch: a slower, swaying rhythm with more movement in the waist and arms.
  5. Let it speed up. In UNESCO’s words, slow circular movements build "to a frenzied whirling". When you tire, step out. Nobody minds.
A dance studio with a wooden floor where an instructor in a red chaniya choli demonstrates a garba step while women of different ages in everyday kurtas copy her — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
A garba workshop: start with the two-clap step.

Is Garba good for health? Claims vs evidence

You will see "an hour of garba burns 400 to 600 calories" everywhere. I could not find any study behind that number; it appears only in news stories and blogs. What does exist are two small studies.

Young women, 2019

Shah Mital Bhaumik and colleagues, "The effect of Garba dance of Gujarat on fitness components of young adult females", Journal of Society of Indian Physiotherapists, August 2019, 3(2). Twenty-five students aged 19 to 25 did garba three times a week, about 30 minutes a session, for 10 weeks. Flexibility improved (sit-and-reach 46.0 to 48.5 cm) and resting heart rate fell from about 90 to 82 beats a minute. BMI, VO2max and mood did not change significantly, and there was no comparison group. (The paper is a PDF, so it is cited in words only.)

"Chair Garba", 2025

Sanjivani Kamble, Omkar Pise, Bhargavi Baria and Amisha Ghorpade of Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, "The Effect of Chair Garba Rhythm Therapy on Balance, Functional Mobility and Quality of Life in Neurorehabilitation: A Pilot Study", Research Square, 23 December 2025. Twenty-two patients (10 stroke, 8 Parkinson’s, 2 multiple sclerosis, 2 traumatic brain injury; aged 42 to 82) did seated garba four times a week, 45 minutes a session, for four weeks. Balance (Mini-BESTest) rose from 16.3 to 22.7, the Timed Up and Go test fell from 14.8 to 11.2 seconds, and quality-of-life scores rose from 51.8 to 64.7. (Also a PDF, cited in words.)

Read the headlines with care:

  • The chair-garba paper is a preprint, not yet peer reviewed.
  • Patients were not randomized, and the study lasted only four weeks; the authors say larger trials are needed.
  • It did not measure the brain (no MRI or EEG), so claims that "garba activates the brain" do not come from this study.
  • Three participants had near-falls. Patients should try it only under a doctor’s or physiotherapist’s supervision.
Older Indian men and women seated on chairs in a circle in a sunny hall, clapping with raised arms while a young physiotherapist in a light-blue uniform leads them — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
Seated garba, guided by a physiotherapist.

The fair summary: garba is good physical activity. The WHO recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, which lowers the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure (courtesy: WHO), and nine nights of garba easily cover that. It is not a treatment, and it is not a weight-loss trick.

Safety on garba nights

Hours of fast dancing, little sleep, too little water and fasting can add up; there have been news reports of heart attacks at garba events. The NHS lists the warning signs: chest pain that feels tight or crushing and may spread to the arm, neck or jaw, shortness of breath, nausea and sweating (courtesy: NHS). Stop and call emergency services at once. If you have heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, are pregnant, or have knee or back problems, check with your doctor and keep to a gentle pace. Take breaks and drink water.

A woman in her forties in a chaniya choli sits on a bench at the edge of a garba ground at night, drinking water from a steel bottle while the circle continues behind her under fairy lights — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
Take a break and drink water: the most important garba rule.

Garba vs Dandiya: what is the difference?

GarbaDandiya Raas
HandsEmpty: claps and snapsA pair of decorated sticks
CentreThe lit garbo or an image of the goddessNot required
FormationOne circle moving togetherPairs facing each other, rotating partners
MeaningWorship of the Goddess"Raas", from Sanskrit rasa; linked to Krishna and the gopis

Wikipedia’s Dandiya Raas article notes that men and women traditionally play it in pairs, and that in Saurashtra the women’s form is called raasda (courtesy: Wikipedia). The Arts and Ideas guide calls raas "the Sword Dance", with the sticks standing in for swords in a mock fight.

Young women in mirror-work chaniya cholis and young men in white kediyus face each other in two lines under string lights, striking colourful dandiya sticks — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
Dandiya raas: sticks and partners. Garba keeps the hands free.

Garba outside India

Britannica and Wikipedia both describe garba spreading far beyond Gujarat: Gujarati communities in the UK hold their own garba nights, and US universities have run garba-raas competitions since around 2000. If you are going for the first time:

An Indian family entering a large hall on a snowy night, the mother in a chaniya choli under a black coat holding her small daughter’s hand, the father in a kediyu carrying a coat, people dancing around a lit garbo behind them — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
Snow outside, lamps and clapping inside.

Garba history: when did it begin?

No source I checked gives a date for when garba began. UNESCO, Wikipedia and Britannica all treat it as an old folk tradition of Gujarat; claims of "5,000 years" come without sources.

The oldest dated written trace I found is the Ahmedabad devotional poet Vallabh Bhatt, who, according to Wikipedia, wrote his first song, Anand no Garbo, in Vikram Samvat 1709 (about 1652–53 CE) at the age of 13, and went on to write many garbas to Bahuchar Mata and Ambaji (courtesy: Wikipedia). Wikipedia flags his dates as doubtful, so treat this as a written milestone, not the start of the dance. Later, the poet Dayaram (1777–1853) made the garbi, a Krishna-devotional song form, popular (courtesy: Wikipedia).

A legend says the goddess Parvati taught the graceful lasya dance to Usha, daughter of Banasura, who taught it to the gopis (courtesy: Wikipedia). Some pages present this as garba’s origin, but I found no source that makes that link directly.

Dusk in an old village square with whitewashed houses and carved balconies, women in bandhani odhnis dancing around a lit clay garbo while an elderly man in a turban plays a dhol — AI-generated image (Roopalia)
Village garba: a dhol, a lamp and a circle.

What I found, and what I didn’t

ClaimResult
Meaning of the pot and lampFound: UNESCO; Wikipedia ("garbha")
Link to first menstruation and marriageFound: Britannica
A start date for garbaNot found
Oldest dated written traceFound: Vallabh Bhatt, Samvat 1709 (dates flagged as doubtful)
Usha and lasya as garba’s originNot found as a sourced link
"400–600 calories an hour"No study found
Health studiesFound: 2019 (25 students) and 2025 preprint (22 patients), both small

The bottom line. Garba is worship you can dance: the pot is the womb, the lamp is life, and everyone circles the Mother. Nobody knows when it began, but songs more than 350 years old bear witness to it, and since 2023 it belongs to the world’s heritage.

The health benefits are real but modest. Dance at your own pace, keep water close, and stop at once if your chest hurts.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Garba celebrated?
Garba is celebrated as worship of the Mother Goddess, Amba or Durga, during the nine nights of Navratri. UNESCO, which added "Garba of Gujarat" to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2023, describes it as a ritualistic and devotional dance performed around a perforated clay pot lit with an oil lamp, or an image of the goddess. The word is traced to the Sanskrit garbha, womb: the pot represents the womb and the lamp the life within it, so the dancers circle the source of life. Britannica adds that in Gujarat garba was also traditionally danced to mark a girl’s first menstruation and her coming marriage, as a celebration of fertility and womanhood.
What is the significance of the pot in Garba?
The pot, called the garbo, is a clay pot punched with small holes and lit from inside with a lamp, so that dots of light spill out. The name garba is traced to the Sanskrit garbha, meaning womb, and Wikipedia describes the lamp inside as a symbol of the soul or life in the womb. Dancers move in a counter-clockwise circle around it, which UNESCO records as the core of the ritual, sometimes with an image of the goddess Amba in its place. In many homes the garbo is installed on the first night of Navratri, often with a coconut on top, and worshipped through the nine nights. The pot is what makes the dance a garba.
What should I wear for a garba night?
The Government of India’s Incredible India site says women traditionally wear the chaniya choli, a wide, flared skirt with an embroidered blouse, and men wear the kediyu, chorno or dhoti. A bandhani dupatta and an embroidered koti (sleeveless jacket) are common additions for both. Mirror work and Kutchi embroidery are typical, and a skirt with more flare looks best when you spin. Practical points matter more than style: wear flat juttis or mojaris rather than heels, keep jewellery light so it does not tangle, choose cotton for long nights, and pin your dupatta. For a garba workshop, a cotton kurta with leggings or jeans is perfectly fine.
What is the difference between Garba and Dandiya?
In garba the hands are empty: dancers clap and snap while moving together in one circle around the lit garbo or an image of the goddess. In dandiya raas each dancer holds a pair of decorated sticks and strikes them with a partner, facing each other and rotating partners. Garba is worship of the Goddess; "raas" comes from the Sanskrit rasa and is linked to Krishna and the gopis, and some sources call it the sword dance, with the sticks as swords in a mock fight. Wikipedia notes that men and women traditionally play dandiya in pairs. Many events hold garba first and dandiya later in the night, and modern "garba-raas" blends both.
What are the health benefits of Garba?
Two small studies exist. In a 2019 study in the Journal of Society of Indian Physiotherapists, 25 young women who did garba three times a week for 10 weeks showed better flexibility and a lower resting heart rate (about 90 to 82 beats a minute), but no significant change in BMI, VO2max or mood. A 2025 "chair garba" preprint from Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, found better balance and mobility in 22 stroke and Parkinson’s patients after four weeks, but it was not randomized or peer reviewed. The popular "400 to 600 calories an hour" figure has no study behind it that I could find. Garba is good activity, not a treatment.
Is Garba good for weight loss?
Garba is moderate to vigorous physical activity, and the WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults, so nine nights of garba can contribute to an active routine. But the only fitness study I found, a 2019 study of 25 young women doing garba three times a week for 10 weeks, reported no significant change in BMI, even though flexibility and resting heart rate improved. The widely shared claim that an hour of garba burns 400 to 600 calories did not appear in any study I checked. Weight depends on overall diet, sleep and regular exercise across the year, so treat garba as a joyful way to move rather than a weight-loss plan.
How do you play Garba as a beginner?
Start by watching: UNESCO notes the circle moves counter-clockwise. Begin with the two-clap (be taali): step with the right foot, bend and clap, step with the left and clap again, then move forward. Next try the three-clap (tran taali), with a third clap raised high as you turn slightly, and the slower, swaying hinch. The rhythm starts slow and speeds up towards a fast whirl, so step out of the circle whenever you tire. Many cities run garba workshops before Navratri. Wear flat shoes and light clothes, keep water nearby, and check with your doctor first if you have heart, blood-pressure or joint problems.
When did Garba start?
No source I checked gives a start date. UNESCO, Wikipedia and Britannica describe garba as an old folk tradition of Gujarat, and claims that it is "5,000 years old" come without sources. The oldest dated written trace I found is the poet Vallabh Bhatt of Ahmedabad, who, according to Wikipedia, wrote his first garba song, Anand no Garbo, in Vikram Samvat 1709 (about 1652–53 CE) at the age of 13, though his dates are flagged as doubtful. The poet Dayaram (1777–1853) later popularised the garbi song form. A legend links the dance to Parvati teaching lasya to Usha, but I found no sourced link between that story and garba.

Sources and cautions: sources consulted — UNESCO (Garba of Gujarat, 2023), Britannica (Garba), Wikipedia (Garba; Dandiya Raas; Vallabh Bhatt; Dayaram; Lasya), Incredible India (United Way of Baroda Garba Mahotsav), International Festival of Arts and Ideas (What is Garba?), WHO (Physical activity) and NHS (Heart attack). Two studies are PDFs and are cited in words only: Shah Mital Bhaumik et al., Journal of Society of Indian Physiotherapists, 2019; Kamble, Pise, Baria and Ghorpade, Research Square preprint, 2025. Three things should be said plainly. First, a start date for garba, a sourced link between the Usha-lasya legend and garba, and the "400–600 calories" claim were not found in this search; that is the result of a search, not a final verdict. Second, steps and customs vary by region. Third, this article is not medical advice; with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, pregnancy or joint problems, check with a doctor first, and try chair garba only under a doctor’s or physiotherapist’s supervision. No brand or shop is recommended.

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