Looking for a Garba night to attend this weekend? Discovering nearby venues during Navratri has become easier with Nearby Navratri, a free online platform created by a Gujarati software engineer to bring Garba events from across India together on a single interactive map.
The website allows users to explore events, check venue details, timings, ticket prices and directions without downloading an application or creating an account. Developed by Rajesh Hadiya, a 30-year-old software engineer based in Pune, the platform went live on October 10, just ahead of Navratri. Since its launch, it has attracted 19,652 users and listed more than 700 Garba events across over 30 cities.
The idea emerged from Hadiya’s own experience of struggling to find nearby Garba celebrations, with details often scattered across ticketing websites, social media posts and WhatsApp groups. As a Gujarati and Garba enthusiast, he wanted to create a single platform where people could easily discover celebrations around them. He believes the same challenge affects many others looking to participate in the festival.
How the website helps users find Garba events
Nearby Navratri displays events on a map, providing information such as dates, locations, timings, starting ticket prices and navigation directions. Where available, users can also access links to official booking pages. The website works on both mobile phones and desktop browsers and is free to use, without advertisements or mandatory registration.
Hadiya, who has more than eight years of experience in Android and mobile application development, said he built the initial version of the website in just two days with assistance from Claude, an artificial intelligence tool. The project has cost him only a few hundred rupees so far, with domain registration accounting for the primary expense. Free development tools and Cloudflare’s free hosting services have helped keep the running costs low.
Coverage extends beyond Gujarat
The platform features Garba events in major Gujarat cities, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Gandhinagar. It also covers smaller centres such as Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Gandhidham, Bhuj, Navsari and Vapi.
Its reach extends beyond Gujarat, with listings from Mumbai and surrounding areas, Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Chennai, among other cities. This allows users to explore celebrations in different locations through a single website.
Community celebrations find a place on the map
Unlike platforms focused primarily on large commercial events, Nearby Navratri also aims to highlight smaller, community-led Garba celebrations. Organisers and members of the public can submit event details free of charge, helping expand the listings and making local festivities easier to discover.
Hadiya said neighbourhood events remain an important part of the platform’s expansion. However, society Garba celebrations are listed only when they are open to the public, allowing users to find events they can actually attend.
How to access Nearby Navratri
The initiative aims to simplify the search for Navratri celebrations by bringing event information together in one place. Instead of browsing multiple websites and social media platforms, users can explore available options on an interactive map.
Garba enthusiasts can visit nearbynavratri.in to discover public Garba events near them. Organisers can also use the website to submit details of their celebrations and help more people find local festivities.