The beat dropped and a deep rumble of the dhol, a traditional south Asian drum, echoed throughout the room as the dholi — drummer — accompanied the classic Bollywood hits that blasted through the room. The sea of people dressed in vibrantly colored South Asian clothing and adorned with ear-to-ear smiles began dancing the fast-paced, high-energy dance known as Garba.

After five months of planning, Longhorn Hindu Students Association hosted this year’s Garba, which took place Friday at the Recreational Sports Center. The four-part event celebrated the Hindu festival Navaratri, which represents the victory of good over evil. Gauri Nukala, event co-chair and computational engineering junior, said Garba garnered an estimated turnout of over 3,000 people.

This year’s Navratri celebration started with Garba, a dance performed in a circle, followed by a religious ritual and performance from UT’s Dirty South Dandiya team. After this, attendees did Dandiya, a dance performed with two long lines of people facing each other doing intricate movements with special Dandiya sticks. The event then closed out with an hour-long jam session to Bollywood hits.

Nukala and Aagna Patel, co-chair and finance sophomore, said they chose to lead this event because of their love for Navaratri and the spirit of celebration for South Asian culture it brings.

“The entire year, I’m looking forward to Garba season,” Patel said. “To be able to share the energy and love I have for this one thing with everyone else is the best thing in the world.”

Nukala said that she and Patel, along with the core body of the Hindu Students Association, worked tirelessly since May to organize the event, from getting vendors to finalizing the flow of the program and ensuring that they have enough Dandiya sticks for everyone.

Nukala said she felt fulfilled seeing attendees’ reactions to the event she and her organization had worked to put together.

“There are so many people that come and say, ‘Hey, I’m from India, and I haven’t had a Navaratri celebration in seven years. This was so magical for me because this reminds me of home,’” Nukala said. “Another person (was) like ‘Hey, I have never, ever experienced Indian or Hindu culture ever. This is my first time, and this is so beautiful. I want to come back next year.’”

Marketing junior Alisha Gupta, who grew up going to three or four Garba events every year in California, said she loves how Garba can bring thousands of people together, uniting them through dance.

“I love how when we’ve actually started doing the dance … there’s this whole sense of unity and cohesion that you don’t really feel with a lot of other dances,” Gupta said. “In Raas and Garba, it’s beautiful that you’re literally forced to interact and be in sync with everybody, otherwise something is thrown off.”

Nukala said she enjoys the community aspect of Garba the most, and that seeing so much of the community show up made the experience worth it.

“UT is so diverse, and I personally have gone to so many events that are outside of my culture and had a great time,” Nukala said. “This is our way of giving back to not only our community (and) our culture, but ( to) the people around us — educating them and sharing our love and all the fun things that we do with them. It’s really exciting and rewarding to see other people enjoying what we’ve grown up with.”