RIVERSIDE: The eighth annual Navratri Garba began at Riverside's Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir on October 12 and continued through October 21. During the 10 evenings over 1,000 attended the function. Often the Mandir was filled to capacity. The main worship area was cleared of everything except the silver Devi Mandir, which was placed in the center so that devotees could dance around it in a circle.

Garba and Dandia dancers moved to the loud beat of the Jhankar Music Group. Several contests added flavor to the program. On Saturday, October 20 custom decorated arati thalis were entered into a competition.

The winners were Kirtiben Patel in first place, Sudha Seth took second and Deepaben Patel, third. A dress competition is planned for next Saturday, October 27 and all ages can participate including infants. For the first time a raffle drawing has been introduced.

The first prize, a new 2007 Chevy Aveo donated by Dalip Singh Sethi of Singh Chevrolet and the 4 karat diamond jewelry set second prize given by Bhindi Jewellers plus another 10 awesome items have ticket holders holding their breath in anticipation of the drawing, scheduled for Saturday October 27.

This year the event was organized by the team of Akshaya Sheth, Dinesh Patel, Dilip Amin and Bipin Patel. Each evening begins with Durga Puja followed by Garba. Despite the late hours everyone enjoyed the Garba.

Young children especially loved dressing up and dancing and seniors had fun as they watched seated in the sidelines. The young adults seemed to enjoy the Garba more than anyone else and teenager Bindya Ladwa admitted, "I only go to this Garba because this is our Mandir. I've been coming here since I was too young to remember."

Her sister Chandni Ladwa added, "I'll be tired in school tomorrow but I don't care. I love Garba and I won't miss it for anything!"

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