In pictures: Yellowknife’s 2024 garba celebration

Yellowknife residents assembled at Northern United Place on Saturday to celebrate a Hindu festival through a traditional dance.

A “garba night” was organized on the occasion of Dussehra, which marked the end of this year’s Navratri. The event began with a Puja, where people took turns offering prayers to Goddess Durga.

A small group then initiated garba – a folk dance from the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat – and more people joined to form a circle that became bigger into the night.

“Nine-day culmination of Navratri, my friends and I have always been excited about it, so grabbed the chance and now we’re here,” said Aimen Mushtaq, a volunteer who helped organize the event.

When Mushtaq moved to Yellowknife in 2023, she had planned to only stay a year. However, she quickly “fell in love” with the city and has no intention of leaving any time soon.

Mushtaq said the festival holds a lot of importance for her.

While she has memories of celebrating Navratri in India, she had never performed garba until Saturday. She described trying the dance next to her friends as the “best way to do it.”

“Navratri has always been special for me because I come from a family where my mom is Hindu and dad is Muslim. So, I have seen it growing up through my life, all the Navratri festivities … I’ve always been fascinated with garba and dandiya raas,” she said, referring to two forms of dance.

Khyati Pillai said she remembers performing garba while growing up in Gujarat where “every nook and corner was lit.” A fond memory for her was dressing up in the traditional attire of chaniya choli and wearing heavy silver jewellery. She said she had a fresh ensemble for all nine nights.

“You would go to the ground and play with your friends, learn new steps. The most fun part was you’d go outside and you have all the street foods. We would go out and play garba all night,” she recalled.

“Last year, I was in India during this time and I was really missing home. [I said] we should do something, right? … We didn’t know how many people would be interested because we never had it. So, we thought we’d do something private but one thing led to another and now it is so huge. I am so grateful.”

The word garba comes from the Sanskrit word “garbha,” which translates to womb. Pillai feels Navratri is a time that brings her in touch with femininity.

“Garba is about embracing your inner strength and destroying all negativites around you. That’s what Maa Durga [represents]. Nav-ratri, nine nights, there are nine different forms of the Goddess. Each form symbolizes something,” she explained.

“For me, it means embracing your feminine energy and living in a patriarchal, man-dominant society. How are you feminine? And how are you making it on your own?”

Many people in the room, including Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty, were at their first garba.

Alty said she went “over and over” the steps as attendees helped her learn the dance.

“The only way you’re going to get better is to dive in and give it a try,” Alty said.

“Incredible energy. I don’t know how people have been dancing for at least an hour now. It was nice to be able to participate in the prayer at the beginning of it, getting to talk to people and learning more about how people celebrate it in the different areas of India.”

Komaljeet Kaur, who helped prepare food with the other volunteers, said organizers did not sleep the night before as they raced to have everything ready in a short time. She said she was surprised to see the number of people who had registered to attend the event, which was put together in four days.

“I liked that all people come from diverse cultures … I saw people from other communities, too. It’s nice that everybody is mixing and embracing the culture,” she said.

“It’s my first garba ever. When they introduced me to garba, I was like ‘OK, I don’t know how to do it, teach me.’ They taught me now because I was busy organizing everything with my friends. I like it. After this, I’m going to do garba again … I thought maybe one day I will do it. I didn’t expect that we would do it in Yellowknife.”

Kaur moved to the city shortly before Diwali last year. She said she “enjoyed everything” about the gala, which was held at Yellowknife’s multiplex.

Priyanka Sharma, who had been organizing a Diwali event in Yellowknife for the past two years, was the main organizer for this year’s garba.

Sharma said the idea to have a garba night was a last-minute decision and that left little room for preparations. Even so, volunteers helped prepare prasad, kadi chawal, pakoras and other dishes for more than 100 people.

Molly Maid and ECEN Immigration sponsored the night.

“Everyone is here from the Gujarati community, from the Punjabi community, from the South Indian community. They are here, they are dancing and they are enjoying,” Sharma said.

“I like seeing smiles on people’s faces. I am so happy [to see] everyone so happy today.”