Modhera Dance Festival, Garba Dance Festival
A temple of the eleventh century in Modhera of Mehsana district, Gujarat is in ruins. This Sun Temple is the venue for the Modhera Dance festival and is located on the bank of river Pushpavati. The architecture is the ancient Gujarat architecture which is constructed for Sun God, with great ancient Engineering skills and was mainly ruined by the Mughal emperor Mohmud of Ghazni.. The Sun Rays fall on the idol in different equinoxes. The sculptures outside the temple have many figures in which Sun God is prominent. There are many other attractions such as the cafeteria, picture gallery, museum and an amusement park. The people who visit such place will surely enjoy all these attractions.
The cultural department of Gujarat will organize the Modhera festival in the temple premises. This improves tourism and the culture of India is reflected. India has a rich culture of dance and music. This is reflected more in such festivals. This festival is mostly held towards the third week of January month. The temple is having many sculpting of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Different dance poses are also depicted on the walls of the temple. The Garbha performance of dance will show the rich Gujarat culture.
People who wear the traditional dress of Gujarat will perform this dance that is worth watching. The audience attending this festival will have a little background of dance which will help them in enjoying the whole program. The dance is so attractive that the audience will be spell bound to the steps of the dancers. The colorful attire of the dancers, lights, temple background and the sound leaves the audience mesmerizing (i.e they can carry the memories for the life time). The traditional and the contemporary dances can be seen altogether in one stage which will be enjoyed by the audience.
The dances like the Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchupudi and many others can be enjoyed here. The colors, dancers, sound, dance forms, lights and the sculptures background will totally give a different affect to the audience. People who practice dance will be waiting for an opportunity to perform in this platform. All types of dances and cultures come on one platform. This will be rare case, as all the types of dances will normally not come on one platform. This festival is for three days and the temple will be full of life in those three days. The Sun God will look coming alive with all the attractions of the dance programs.
The first ray of the sun will directly fall on the Sun God and this is very cool to watch. The engineering was so good in those olden times that the people who perform in this temple will feel very special. They will give the performance to the audience with full enthusiasm. Though, this place is a small place in Gujarat, it has achieved international recognition. People from all over the world will come here to see the performances of the dancers of different culture.