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Navratri - Celebrating The Various Forms of Goddess Shakti

Source navbharattimes.indiatimes.com

The divine festival of Navratri is celebrated with music, dance, decorative pandals, worship and fasting. Hindus celebrate the festival of Navratri which symbolizes triumph of good over evil. It is the longest festival in India celebrated for nine nights worshiping the divine Goddesses and deities. The nine forms of Goddess Durga are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kaalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidhatri. All these forms are worshiped during this festival. These Goddesses are believed to be the incarnation of Goddess Shakti. This festival signifies wealth, power, knowledge and prosperity. Navratri begins on the first day of Ashwin of the bright fortnight and falls in September or October every year.

Celebrations and Rituals

Source www.hindustantimes.com

This festival is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm and happiness all around. It is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. While people of Gujarat fast for nine days, worship Goddess Shakti and also dance for nine nights doing their cultural garba and dandiya, people in the east, celebrate Navratri in a different way. Navratri is celebrated as Durga Puja in the eastern part of India, including West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Bihar.

Durga puja is celebrated in the last four days of Navratri. People in the east give more importance to idol decoration. Local people go pandal hopping to see the divine forms of Goddess Durga decorated in stunning ways. People observe fasts during the nine days of Navratri. Hindus believe that by fasting, they can purify their bodies and mind. They do not consume alcohol, eggs and non-vegetarian food during these nine days. Markets are flooded with puja products, fast materials for food and décor items. These décor items are used by devotees to decorate their home alcoves and also for temple decorations. One such prominent Navratri décor item is a Garba Matki.

Essence of Garba Matki

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Garba Matki is a handicraft earthen pot, decorated with fine beads, paints and stones. This matki is used by women to place their coconut for pooja. After commencing their puja, they use this matki to perform their traditional Garba dance. Garba is cultural dance form of Gujarat performed during Navratri. This Garbi dance is also known as Maandvi dance. Women balance their matkis on their head and perform this dance around the idol of Goddess Shakti. Some women even place more than one matkis on top of another and then place a lit diya on top. Women are very enthusiastic about their matkis and often put in a lot of effort to decorate it in a unique way.

Cool Ways to Decorate Your Garba Matki

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So if you too want to decorate your Garba matki in a beautiful way, here are some cool ideas:

Warli and Bandhani Matka

Source lh6.ggpht.com

This Pretty Warli Artwork and Bandhani Matka was decorated by a contestant for her Gujarati Raas Garba festival. She emerged as the winner with her work.

    You can also take inspiration from this style and decorate your own Garba Matki.

  • The matka has a pretty warli painting further adorned by colorful beads and paints.
  • In the middle of the warli artwork is the symbol of ‘Swastik’, which is considered as sacred and a lucky charm. Swastik is also drawn on house entrances to prevent it from the evil eye.
  • The other side of the Matki has a pretty kalash done up with Bandhani fabric. A kalash symbolizes a soul filled with love and prosperity. It also showcases abundance and hospitality.
  • A coconut is placed on the kalash which is a symbol of the God’s head. A kalash with a coconut is kept for all sacred and holy events in Hindu customs.
  • The third side of the kalash is decorated with bandhani fabric which symbolizes Gujarati traditional wear. A beautiful red colored bandhani fabric is stuck on the third side of the kalash and further adorned with mirrors and stones.

Pretty Pot Painting Ideas

Watch the video above to learn creative decoration techniques. It shows how to decorate your Garba Matki in a stunning way.

  • The raw matkas are first painted with acrylic paints. You can take different metallic or pearl paints too.
  • After the base coat has dried up, all the matkas are further painted with different designs.
  • Notice how the first one has a lovely warli artwork while the second one is just decorated with a painted thread. This painting by a painted thread gives a very unique finish to the pot.
  • Similarly, all the pots are painted and then later decorated with pearls or stones. A pearl lace or a bead lace is easy to stick and also gives a uniform look.

Beautiful Pot with Beads Decoration

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Reference - www.youtube.com

  • This one is a stunning Garba pot.
  • First you need a big size pot and some copper paint.
  • Give a copper base coat to the pot. Next you can start decorating with golden bells, beads, stone and pearls.
  • You can use fevicol to stick the bells, beads and stone lace and pearls on the pot.
  • This pot is easy to make and you can buy the embellishments online.

Easy Matka Decoration

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Reference - www.youtube.com

  • This pretty red pot is decorated with stones and golden lace.
  • You need to first paint the pot with red base paint and then stick mirrors of different shapes and sizes as shown in the video.
  • Further decorate the pot with a golden and silver stone or beaded lace.

Floral Themed Kalash

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  • This lovely floral themed kalash has embossed flowers made with clay.
  • The pot is further decked up with golden lace on the rim.
  • You can also make clay with wheat flour dough by adding some fevicol in the dough.
  • Make flower petals from the clay as shown in the video and stick on the pot.
  • After the clay dries up, paint the pot and the flowers with different colorful acrylic paints.
  • Last, add a golden lace on the rim for the final touch.

Ghat Kalash Decoration

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  • This special pot looks lovely with its glitter effect.
  • First the pot has been painted a bright orange using acrylic paints.
  • Next, using a glitter tube, glitter has been applied on the entire pot for a shiny effect.
  • Next, a pretty lace is applied on the rim of the pot and then some kundan stones are stuck around the neck.
  • The big kundan stones are further adorned with smaller kundan stones on their borders.
  • Lastly, another lace of golden gota is stuck at the bottom and embellished with kundan stones again.

Pot with Satya Image

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  • This stunning garba pot is done up with laces of stones and beads all over.
  • You don’t need to paint the pot as it will be covered with the lace all over.
  • You can first begin with decorating the satyas on two sides of the pot with golden beaded lace.
  • Next, cover the rim and the neck with colorful beaded laces leaving golden and silver for the satya symbol only.
  • This pretty pot gets made quickly and also looks very dressy and glittery.
  • You can create the same effect using glitter and paints and then adorning it further with a few stones and kundans.

Stunning Garba Pot

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  • This benevolent Garba pot is example of skilled craftsmanship.
  • You would need paints, fevicol, roses, stones, mirrors and some sequins for this pot.
  • Begin by first painting the entire pot a lovely shade of golden.
  • Next stick the roses in a pretty pattern on the middle of the entire pot.
  • You can also stick the roses in bunches as shown in the video.
  • Next, stick small diamond shaped mirrors in interesting designs and then add a stone lace on the neck and bottom.
  • Your garba pot is ready. If you have a lid for your pot, decorate the lid in the same way to make your set complete.

Hand Painted Garba

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  • This unique pot is decorated with a Ganesha image made out of clay.
  • First you need to paint the entire pot black.
  • Next, take clay and make the image of Ganesha on one side and some flowers on the other side.
  • Now you have to just paint the flowers and Ganesha with colorful acrylic paints.
  • This pot does not require you to buy any décor material and it looks lovely hand painted only.

Pearls and Beads Garba

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Reference - www.youtube.com

  • This pot is another wonderful design for your own hand painted and hand-decorated Garba Matka.
  • Get a raw pot first and give it a base coat with acrylic paints.
  • Next you can stick pearl lace and beads in an interesting pattern as shown in the video.
  • Garba matka decoration is all about your creativity and you can come up with unique designs once you have craft material and paints ready.

Garba Matki Decoration Items Available Online

Source femina.wwmindia.com

We are sure after looking at these lovely videos of stunningly decorated Garba matkis, you too would want to decorate yours at home. You will need some craft material to make your matka pretty and unique. We have found some amazing craft and decoration materials online. Have a look!

Chains and Stone Lace Combo

Source images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com

This lovely chains and stone lace combo set is the perfect décor material you need to cover up your matkis. Available at www.amazon.in for Rs. 199, this set contains a 4-line stone lace of length 1.25 meters, 1 meters stone chain, 1 meters pearl chain and 1 meter golden ball chain. This combo will cover up all your decorating needs. You can instantly perk up dull looking garba matkis by adorning them with these shining chains.

Half Cut Pearls

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This collection of 8 mm half cut pearls help you decorate your matkis quite easily. Available at www.amazon.in for Rs. 145, this set is a must have for all your decoration needs. The beautiful half cut pearls are in white color and weigh 200 gm. These can be easily stuck on your painted matkas to take their look to the next level.

Multicolored Kundan Stones

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Kundan stones are a lovely embellishment for all kinds of craft and décor work. They instantly jazz up the look with their shine and glass finish. This set is available at www.amazon.in for Rs. 175. You can easily stick these stones on your Garba matki to decorate it. You get 400 colorful and easily stick-able jewelry stones in 8 different colors. Each stone measures 8 mm in diameter.

Colorful Roses

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Paper or fabric roses instantly deck up the entire look of your matka. You can buy them online from www.amazon.in for Rs. 215. The pack contains 6 lovely foam artificial PE rose flowers of 2 cm diameter each. There are around 72 flowers which can be used for other arts and craft purposes like scrapbook making, collage making and other art projects. These roses are the perfect décor material to glam up your Garba Matki. Stick them along with other sequins and stones to give a beautiful look.

Shining Kundan Stones

Source images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com

These shining kundan stones add a rich look to your Garba matki when stuck along with other sequins, roses and pearls. Take your creativity to the next level by experimenting with all sorts of decoration material on your Garba Matka. This lovely pack of kundan stones can be bought online from www.amazon.in It is priced at Rs. 364 for a pack of 50 pieces. Each piece has a diameter of 9 mm.

These traditional Indian stones in silver color depict an ancient art of Meenakari. Each stone has a beautiful brass metal holder and individual sparkle.

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From our editorial team

Making Decorations as Creative as Possible!

Creative activities like these are quite fun when done with kids too. You can also decorate a Garba matki and gift it to your near and dear ones this festive season. Ignite your creative spark this Navratri and decorate your own Garba Matki instead of buying it from the market this time! Happy Navratri!!