Navratri is one of the most popular and widely celebrated festivals in many parts of India, particularly in Gujarat. A highlight of Navratri in Gujarat is Garba, which at times is accompanied by Dandiya.
This year the festival starts on the 7th of October, but the Covid restrictions proved to be a dampener again. Though the Gujarat government has allowed garba in housing societies and private events, it has said a big no to largescale celebrations capping crowd limit at 400.
Preparations usually start almost a month before the Navratri festival, but the near-empty markets due to restrictions on big garba events have had a direct impact on artisans this year too, while traders have slashed the stock by 50%.
Business has been hit hard. It seems not many people are investing in Chania-Choli even though the prices of both traditional or fusion Chania Choli has not been increased. Traders as well as the artisans look helpless.
With most of the organisers not willing to host big events this time, the footfall of traditional ornament buyers has also come down. In order to deal with this, ornament dealers have started online sales, and fortunately the business is picking up.
Video Editor: Partha Narayan Das
Producer: Sanchita Mondal