Watch: People in Gujarat play Dandiya in a swimming pool, netizens ask ‘why’

In 2022, Navaratri started on 26 September and will conclude on 5 October.

According to canonical knowledge Navratri honours the defeat of Mahishasura or the buffalo god by Durga. The festival is often touted as the celebration of ‘good over evil’. It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Hindu Indian cultural sphere.

The 10th day of Sharad Navratri is celebrated as Dussehra or Vijaya Dashami.

Numerous dances, including Garba and Dandiya Raas, are performed during the nine-day festival. While Dandiya Raas involves dancing with dandiya sticks to the beat of the music, Garba is a traditional dance in which participants clap their hands and move in a circle while making rhythmic gestures.

News agency ANI shared a video on Sunday that shows people indulging in Dandiya, albeit within a pool. A group of enthusiastic people are seen playing Dandiya within a large swimming pool, filled with water till their hips.  

Watch the video here

A similar video had gone viral last month wherein a group of men and women doing Garba inside a swimming pool. The video from Udaipur, Rajasthan, showed the group of people dancing to the song Chogada Tara from the movie Loveyatri.

Following the Garba, people in Gujarat were now seen playing Dandiya in a swimming pool. ‘Ye dandiya hi hai na?’ (This is dandiya, right?), asked a netizen. Many question the bizarreness of the act. While one said, “Never underestimate Gujratis’ obsession with Garba, they will always surprise you!”, another shared a meme of the famous cartoon Tom from the Tom and Jerry series dialing the ‘mental hospital”.

Meanwhile, day after Indore was adjudged the cleanest city in the country for the sixth consecutive time, the inmates of the Indore Central Jail played ‘dandiya’ to celebrate the triumph.

Officials said all prisoners, male and female, participated in the event, which is usually organised during the Navratri festival. Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister Usha Thakur and Indore Police Commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra attended the event on Saturday.