A large number of Muslim craftsmen in Godhra city, which was the epicenter of the 2002 riots, earn livelihood by making ‘dandiyas’ (wooden sticks) for Navratri, Gujarat’s most popular festival of the Hindus.
Several Muslim families in Godhra, about 60 kms from here, start preparing the dandiyas, used by men and women in the traditional folk dance, 5-6 months prior to the onset of the nine-day Navratri festival.
The about 18-inch long dandiya sticks, made from mango tree and ‘baval’ thorny tree wood, are decorated with colourful laces, beads and ‘ghungroos’ (tiny metallic bells strung together), says Rafiqbhai Abdulbhai Menda, who owns a dandiya manufacturing unit in Godhra.