Navratri worship should be without disturbance to others; Garba, Dandiya doesn't need loudspeaker, DJ: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that the religious festival of Navratri is worshipping the Goddess 'Shakti' which needs "one point attention" and cannot be done in a noisy atmosphere and, thus, there is no need to use modern sound systems such as DJ, loudspeakers etc for performing Garba, Dandiya etc [Pawan Shamsundar Sarda vs State of Maharashtra]..A division bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and Govind Sanap noted that worshipping the Goddess during the nine-day festival cannot be done if there is disturbance to the devotee or if the devotee himself causes disturbance to others."Dandiya and Garba being intrinsic part of a religious celebration can still be performed in purely traditional and religious way, which do not contemplate use of modern gadgets like, music system, loudspeakers, DJ sound and the like," the bench said.The Court was hearing a petition seeking a directive to bar use of sound system for the ongoing Navratri festival on a playground, declared as a "silence zone" under the Noise Pollution Rules, 2000. The Court in its verdict explained the significance of worship during Navratri."What is worshipped for nine nights is a form of `Shakti’. The worship to goddess of Shakti is effective only when it is done with one pointed attention, without any hesitation, without any disturbance of mind coming from the atmosphere around us and without causing any disturbance to others," the bench noted. .Therefore, a question would arise whether pointed worship and devotion to the presiding deity of `Navratra Festival’ is possible if the celebration is noisy or is done in a manner as to cause annoyance and disturbance to others, the bench said."The answer to this question is an obvious ‘no’. No offering of one pointed worship and devotion to the presiding deity of Navratra festival is possible unless there is full concentration of mind, all energies of body and mind are focused on nothing but the deity and there is gradual shading of once own identity till the realisation of the supreme reality or the truth. This State of being is described in ‘Mandukya Upanishad’ as, “it is the cessation of all phenomena; it is all peace, all bliss and non dual," the Court said..Hence, a true devotee would like to express his devotion and offer his worship to the deity without being disturbed and without causing any disturbance to others."Obviously, therefore, a true devotee would like to express his devotion and offer his worship to the deity without receiving any disturbance of any kind from the outside world and he himself would not cause any disturbance to others in his worship and expression of devotion to the deity or otherwise there would be a fear of deviating from his object of worship and devotion," the bench observed. .The Court further added that if any act of worship by a devotee causes annoyance or disturbance to others, there would be a possibility of rebounding action of same disturbance or even greater disturbance from others."It then follows that every offering of worship and devotion to the presiding deity of Navratra festival must be done with great care and a devotee must ensure that by his or her actions, the discipline and sanctity of the festival are not sacrificed. What is to be sacrificed by the devotee is his or her own indiscretion and indiscipline," the Court opined. .It noted that performance of ‘Dandiya’ and ‘Garba’ is one of the traditional ways of celebrating the festival and it is considered by a large section of Hindu religion to be the best way of expressing their devotion in its fullest form to the presiding deity of Navratri festival.."So, the position obtaining today is that in silence zones there cannot be playing of any loudspeaker or public address system or musical system and even beating of drums or tom-tom or blowing of horns etc," the bench underscored. But that does not mean that there can be no celebration altogether, it was clarified.Dandiya and Garba can still be performed in purely traditional and religious way without any modern sound gadgets, the Court said.Therefore, the bench granted the organisers permission to perform Dandiya and Garba but in a traditional and purely religious way without using any loud musical instruments, drums, tom-tom, sound system or DJ system. .Advocate Rahul Bhangde appeared for the Petitioners. Additional Government Pleader NP Mehta represented the State authorities. Senior Advocate MV Samarth assisted by advocate CM Samarth appeared for the Garba organisers. .[Read Order]