The Ras dance is considered to be the form of Ras Leela,which Krishna used to perform when he was leading the life of a cowherd boy at Gokul and vrindavan. The Ras is by itself very simple and is generally performed by a group of youthful people who move in a circle to measured steps, marking time by sticks called dandias keeping in their hands and singing in chorus accompanied by dhol, cymbals, zanz, flute or shehnai.

The typical folk costumes for this dance is a small coat called Keviya with tight sleeves and pleated frills at the waist with embroidered borders and shoulders, tight trousers like chudidars and colorfully embroidered cap or coloured turban and coloured kamarbandha i.e. waistband, which stands direct contrast to the general colour scheme the costume.

Just as Krishna popularized the RAS form of dance Usha, the grand daughter-in-law of Krishna is credited to have popularized the form, Lasya Nritya which came to be known as Garba dance.

The Garba Nritya is a circular form of dance performed by woman folk of Gujarat and the occasions for this dance are especially Navaratri, Sharad Purnima, Vasant Panchmi, Holi and other festivals. It also learnt that the Shakti cult, which existed during the prehistoric, times much before the advent of Aryas, had form of a ritualistic dance for fertility, wherein an unfertile lady takes a small wooden structure of temple called ‘madh’ on her head and dances in the middle encircled by other ladies. The word ‘Garba’ derives its name after a lamp called Garbadeep, meaning the lamp inside the earthen pot. The light in the earthen pot symbolises the embryonic life. The earthen pot is usually coloured in white and holes in its side through which the inner lamp reflects its light. The ladies place on their heads, move in a circle and sing songs in honour of the mother Goddess.This is done especially during the Navaratri, which is a festival in honor of mother Goddess. On the occasion of Navaratri i.e. the October – harvest time, practically all the cities Gujarat resounds to the rhythm music and songs of the Garba dance. Though the city-dwellers have introduced elaborates modern style and gestures in the Garba dance, its main form has remained more or less intact. Costumes are never prescribed by any set of rules but a happy tendency has grown among city people to take to folk costumes, colours and ornaments. Singing in chorus is an invariable accomplishment of the Garba Nritya.