How Garba Forgot Its Women

Every Navratri, millions of people — from Ahmedabad, India to Edison, New Jersey — will step into the garba circle. Dressed in chaniya cholis, lehengas, and kurtas, they clap, twirl, and move in unison to the beat of relentless music. For nine nights, they dance for hours, return home exhausted, and do it all over again. “That moment when the music gets faster and everyone in the circle shares this collective wave of excitement” is one of Vinay Jobanputra’s favorite parts of garba, he told The Juggernaut. “It’s a euphoria like no other for me.”

But garba is much bigger than a dance. The Gujarati tradition honoring shakti, or the divine feminine, has become a global spectacle, complete with celebrity performers, elaborate stages, and thousands of dancers. In 2023, UNESCO recognized the festival as part of humanity’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, celebrating its ability to foster “social equality” and its inclusion of “diverse and marginalized communities.” 

For generations, women were the heart of garba. They chose the songs, set the rhythm, taught the dance, and passed down the tradition. Yet, as garba grew into a global phenomenon, the women who once led the circle were increasingly left to follow. “Garba can be explained through a simple opposition between authenticity and commercialization,” Mrunal Chavda, an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Management Raipur, told The Juggernaut. “The garba is more complex.” So how did garba change and why?