Navratri Dandiya Raas Images HD -- Festival Dance Night

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Clack -- the dandiya sticks strike mid-air, and the Navratri night explodes into motion. This stunning HD image freezes a single electric moment of the Dandiya Raas -- pairs of dancers in traditional Gujarati attire meeting their partners' decorated sticks with a synchronized strike, colored sparks flying from the impact point. The men wear the traditional kediyu (pleated top) with turbans; the women swirl in ghagra choli with heavy silver jewelry at the waist, wrists, and neck. The circular formation of dancers extends outward in concentric rings, each couple synchronized with the others in the ancient rhythm of the Raas. The swirling fabric of the women's outfits creates dynamic motion trails that photograph like brushstrokes -- emerald, ruby, saffron, and gold blurring into arcs of color against the deep dark background of the festival night. String lights and paper lanterns overhead provide the warm illumination of a mela (festival ground) at its most festive. The Dandiya Raas -- the stick dance -- is traditionally distinct from the circular Garba, though both are performed during Navratri. Dandiya originated as a re-enactment of the battle between Goddess Durga and Mahishasura, with the sticks representing the divine swords. It is also associated with Krishna's Raas Leela -- the divine dance he performed with the gopis of Vrindavan. Today Dandiya is played in rounds: as the music speeds up through the night, the dancers must match the pace, and the circles rotate faster and faster until the sticks become a blur of flying color. Free HD download.

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