performers use a pair of colorfully decorated sticks as symbols, the circular movements of Dandiya Raas are much more complex than that of Garba.

Further, dandiya offers much room for improvisation and experimentation everywhere, in its rendition of songs, dance steps and so on. It’s a highly customizable product with movable widgets and edit buttons all over, to suit the needs of the user. In one of its simple form dancers move in two circles in three steps, one group moves on clockwise direction while the other takes the anti-clockwise path and clank the stick themselves and with that of their changing partners.  There are infinite number of steps one can follow in dandiya, like, Lehree (wave pattern), Trikoniya (triangular pattern), lotus, and butterfly patterns .One can try any step so long as it make some pattern and follows the rhythm of the song.  For the skillful it is like an open source software.

The dress code for women and men are different.  For women it is a three-piece ghagras (or chaniya, a type of skirt that flares around the wearer as she steps back and forth), cholis (blouse), and odhni (a veil or long scarf that covers the head partially and flowing down to the wearer’s back)

There are many other dances in different parts of India as elsewhere which use sticks and even long bamboos to assist and invigorate measured movements in tune with the music.  For instance, northeastern states of India use bamboos and bamboos stick for a large number of dances, in some states of south of India bamboos stick are used for dance. For instance “Kolattam”(meaning, a play with sticks) in Andhra and “Kolkali”(meaning, a play with sticks) in Kerala Muslim traditions use sticks in dances. 

“dandia: n. [Gujrati] a Gujrati group dance form where men and women participate in pairs.  The dancers hold decorated bamboo sticks called dandias in their hands. At the end of these “dandias”, tiny bells or ghungroos are tied, which create a jingling sound when the sticks are struck with each other.  Dandiyas, along with garbhas , are very popular during the Navratri season in October.”

The main difference between the Garba and Dandiya dance performances is that Garba is performed before Aarti (worshipping ritual) as devotional performances in the honor of the Goddess while Dandiya is performed after it, as a part of merriment. While Garba is performed exclusively by women, men and women join in for Raas Dandiya.