This year, the residents of The Atrium, an apartment complex in Thiruvanmiyur, celebrated Navaratri – the celebration of the Mother Goddess and the celebration of Lord Rama killing Ravan, in a grand way.
The celebrations lasted for two days.
On Friday, the 3rd of October, a tableau of dance and music performances were held. The program began with a showcase by teams of children of how navaratri is celebrated in different parts of our country.
The Badminton court which has a stage at the end of it became the perfect auditorium for the performances.
The kids divided themselves into four teams; North, South, East, and West.
The North team performed a dance-drama on Ram killing Ravan and rescuing Sita. The South team presented a traditional Kolattam dance.
The East team brought a Bengali dance to the audience of Chennai which ended with the children standing in a form to present Ma Durga with her ten arms ( the way Durga is worshipped in Bengal).
The West team showed a few traditional games played in Maharashtra during this festival.
Then a group of women sang the song ‘O! paalanhare’ from the movie ‘Lagaan’. Individual music performances (vocal and instrumental) by children and adults residing in the apartment complex followed.
The next day on Saturday the 4th of October, a party for all residents and their guests was held in a pavilion near the entrance to the apartments.
It was also the Dandiya Night.
Anyone who wanted to, could join the two circles which had been formed in the center of the pavilion. The inner circle consisted of small children, while the outer one consisted of the teens and the ladies. The party, which started at 7pm.went on till 10 pm. Delicious North Indian fare such as Dhokla, Chaat, Poori, Channa, Pav-Bhaji and a sweet were served for dinner.
It was such an enjoyable evening that at 10pm, after the last song for the evening had been played, all the dancers begged for one more song(though they did not get it)!
Though the dandiya night is held almost every year to celebrate Navaratri and Diwali at this complex, the dance and music performances were a new addition this year.