While Gujarat’s Navratri celebrations often unfold on sprawling garba grounds filled with music and dancers, a quieter, centuries-old tradition takes place in the narrow lanes of Shahpur, Ahmedabad. Here, on the eighth night of Navratri, men gather in colourful sarees, vermilion bindis on their foreheads, to perform garba in honour of Sadu Mata, a woman revered by the Barot community.
The ritual, observed at Sadu Mata Ni Pol, is rooted in a story of sacrifice and a community’s enduring search for forgiveness. Locals trace the tradition back more than 200 years, to a time when Sadu Mata’s beauty is said to have drawn the attention of Ahmedabad’s ruler.
According to Tushar Barot, a local resident, the ruler ordered that Sadu Mata be brought to his court and sent soldiers to fetch her. Members of the Barot community resisted, unwilling to let her be taken against her will. The confrontation escalated, leaving Sadu Mata facing a terrible choice.
As the threat grew, she is said to have killed her daughter, Ajuba, before asking her husband, Hathisingh Barot, to take her life with a single stroke of his sword rather than allow her to be taken to the royal court.
Her death left the community with a deep sense of guilt over its inability to protect her. In the years that followed, members believed they were facing a curse, with male deaths and dwindling family lineages haunting several households.
Seeking forgiveness, the community began gathering at a shrine established in Sadu Mata’s honour. They prayed for the well-being and continuity of their families and pledged to wear garments associated with Sadu Mata as an act of atonement. According to community belief, their family lineages began to flourish again after these prayers.
Over generations, the vow evolved into an annual ritual: men wearing sarees and performing garba on the eighth night of Navratri.
This year, at least 40 men from the Barot community and other groups gathered at Sadu Mata Ni Pol. Among them were 25 to 30 participants from other communities, including Muslims, according to Satish Barot, a 60-year-old performer who has taken part in the ritual for more than four decades.
“For me, it is a matter of pride,” he said.
For some, participation has become a family tradition passed down across generations. Pintu Barot travelled from Surendranagar with his family to take part. As his wife helped him drape a saree, he spoke of bringing his 10-year-old son, his brother and his nephew to participate for the first time.
Around 9 pm, the saree-clad men gathered in the cramped courtyard of a small temple dedicated to Sadu Mata. The garba unfolded not as a spectacle for visitors, but as an expression of devotion, remembrance and a collective promise renewed each year.
“This tradition has been followed for generations,” said local resident Kirtibhai Barot. “We pray for the well-being of our community and also thank her for her blessings every year.”
For the men who gather in Shahpur, wearing a saree is not simply an unusual Navratri custom. It is an act tied to a story their community continues to carry: of a woman remembered for her sacrifice, of remorse passed down through generations, and of a vow that has become part of their shared identity.
More than two centuries after the events that inspired it, Sadu Mata’s garba remains a reminder of how faith and collective memory can shape a tradition long after its beginnings have passed into folklore.
(With inputs from PTI)