Dandiya Nights Tambola Tickets

Dandiya nights tambola is a Navratri housie: dandiya sticks, a chaniya choli, a dhol, a garba deep and a chunri fill the ticket, and six prizes from Garba Five to the Dandiya Dhamaka full house. The page has the free pack, an online game, a prize ladder, a planner for 20 to 100 guests and a run sheet for a garba evening.

A ticket that looks ready for the garba ground

Most housie tickets are a plain grid of numbers. The Dandiya Nights ticket is drawn like a festive card with a soft scalloped edge, a “Dandiya Nights” title across the top and a small medallion that reads “Navratri Garba”. Inside, the 15 numbers sit in five little picture panels, three numbers each.

• Dandiya: a crossed pair of painted sticks, the ones that clack in every raas circle.
• Chaniya Choli: the flared, mirror-work skirt and blouse worn for garba.
• Dhol: the barrel drum that sets the beat for the whole night.
• Garba Deep: the lamp kept at the center of the circle, which dancers move around.
• Chunri: the bright tie-dyed dupatta, often in bandhani prints.

Because players hunt for a picture as well as a number, even the aunties who usually skip housie tend to lean in. This Navratri theme tambola works well for mixed ages, since children can follow the pictures while adults chase the numbers.

Ready-to-print Dandiya Nights Tambola pack

12 different picture tickets (2 on each A4 page) with a caller sheet, a prize sheet and a rules page. Print it as it is, or press Create your tambola ticket above for more tickets and your own party name.

Download the free PDF

The prizes, one by one

Every prize is linked to a picture, so the host only has to say a name and point at the prize sheet.

1. Garba Five: whoever marks any 5 numbers first, anywhere on the ticket.
2. Garba Ready: all six numbers in the Dandiya and Chaniya Choli panels together, sticks in hand and outfit on.
3. Dhol Taasha: the three numbers in the Dhol panel.
4. Aarti: the three numbers in the Garba Deep panel. A nice one to call around the time of the evening aarti.
5. Chunri Prize: the three numbers in the Chunri panel.
6. Dandiya Dhamaka Full House: all 15 numbers on the ticket.

The tickets are made in sets of six that use 1 to 90 exactly once, so no ticket is loaded with lucky numbers. If you print 30 tickets, you get five complete sets.

Hosting a Navratri housie evening

Navratri means “nine nights”, and most societies and families already have a garba program on several of them. Tambola fits best as the slow part of the evening: after the aarti, while people catch their breath and before the second round of dancing. Forty to fifty minutes is about right for one full round of Navratri theme tambola.

Seating: lay durries (cotton floor rugs) on one side of the ground or the society hall, with a few chairs for elders. Keep the caller near the speaker so the numbers carry over the chatter.

Dress code: you hardly need one, as guests arrive in chaniya cholis, kediyus (the short flared jackets men wear for garba) and colorful kurtas anyway. Some families follow a color for each day of Navratri. If yours does, print the tickets in color on that evening and ask the winner of each prize to be wearing the day’s color for a bonus toffee.

Prize ideas that suit the theme:

• A pair of decorated dandiya sticks for Garba Ready.
• Oxidised jhumkas or a bandhani dupatta for the Chunri Prize.
• A small brass diya or a box of scented tea lights for Aarti.
• A box of khakhra, fafda or a mithai hamper for the Full House.

If some guests are fasting during these nine days, keep snack prizes to vrat-friendly items such as makhana or dry fruit. For background on the festival itself, the Wikipedia article on Navaratri covers the regional traditions, and the article on garba dance explains the circle around the lamp that inspired our Garba Deep panel.

Play Dandiya Nights tambola online

Cousins in another city, or a friend down with a cold who cannot come to the ground? Start an online game and share the link. Everyone gets the same picture ticket on their phone, the game calls each number and can say it aloud between garba rounds, and any claim is checked on the host screen.

A twist for the last night: the dandiya round

On the final evening, try this: whenever a number from the Dandiya panel is called, everyone holding that number stands up and taps their sticks twice before marking it. It costs nothing, keeps people awake between calls and gives the photographer some lovely candid shots.

Printing tips: choose 2 tickets per A4 or Letter sheet if most players are elders, as the picture panels stay large and easy to read. Four per page is fine for a younger crowd. Black and white versions photocopy cleanly if you need a big stack for a society garba, and the caller sheet lets you tick off numbers even if the music drowns out the speaker.

Looking for more designs? Browse every illustrated set on the theme tambola tickets hub, or use our classic Navratri tambola page if you prefer a simple number grid. Many families carry the same group straight into the next festival with the Diwali Dhamaka picture tickets, and the Karwa Chauth Chand tambola suits the ladies’ gatherings that follow soon after.

Navratri theme tambola: why this theme works

Navratri is a nine-night festival, and in many places the evenings are filled with garba and dandiya raas, the circle dances with colorful costumes and sticks. A tambola session can fill the pauses between dances when dancers need a rest, and it gives non-dancers something to do.

The five pictures are Navratri’s main sights: the dandiya sticks, the chaniya choli, the dhol, the garba deep (a decorated pot with a lamp) and the chunri. The prizes, such as Dhol Taasha and Aarti, give the emcee a chance to announce the next round in festival language.

Here is how navratri theme tambola fits a garba night: the pictures need no explanation, the prizes give the host lines to announce, and the whole game fits comfortably around the other events of the day.

How to play dandiya nights tambola step by step

The rules of dandiya nights tambola are the rules of ordinary tambola, with pictures instead of rows. Here is the whole game in six steps, using the prize names printed on the sheet:

1. Hand out the tickets. Give each player one ticket and read the prize list aloud, starting with Garba Five and ending with Dandiya Dhamaka Full House.
2. Call the numbers. The host calls numbers from 1 to 90 in random order, or lets the online game call them.
3. Mark your pictures. Each player strikes off the numbers on their ticket, and each picture holds three of them.
4. Claim a prize. The first player to complete a pattern shouts the prize name, such as “Garba Ready!”, before the next number is called.
5. Check the claim. The host reads the numbers back against the caller sheet. A wrong claim loses that ticket the prize.
6. Finish with the full house. The game ends when a player marks all fifteen numbers and wins Dandiya Dhamaka Full House.

New players learn dandiya nights tambola in about two minutes, because the pictures show them what to look for. If the group has never played tambola, our guide on how to play tambola explains the classic version.

Dandiya nights tambola: the prize ladder in numbers

Every prize in dandiya nights tambola needs a different number of marked numbers, so the prizes arrive in a predictable order. We simulated 3,000 games with 60 tickets, which is 10 sets of six, and recorded the call on which each prize was first completed. The table shows the median, with the middle half of games alongside:

With 60 tickets the first five arrives on about call 11, and the full house on about call 69, so the whole ladder runs over 58 calls, or about 10 minutes at 10 seconds a call. A one-picture prize arrives around call 22, and a two-picture prize around call 44, so most of the excitement happens in the middle of the game. When you plan dandiya nights tambola, announce the prizes in the order they are likely to be won, and keep the biggest for last.

Dandiya tambola tickets: how many to print and how long a game lasts

This planner answers the question behind dandiya tambola tickets: how many to print and how long the game lasts. For a garba night, the right number of tickets depends on how many guests want to play. This planner rounds up to whole sets of six and uses the same simulation as above for each size of group. One ticket for each player is the usual choice, and you can print a few spares for latecomers:

For 20 guests, print 24 tickets (4 sets of six) and expect the full house around call 73, which is about 12.2 minutes of calling. For 100 guests you need 120 tickets and the full house arrives around call 67.

The bigger the group, the earlier each prize is won, because more tickets are in play: the first five comes on call 13 with 20 guests but on call 9 with 100. That is why dandiya nights tambola stays quick even at a large garba night, and why it suits a short slot in the program.

What one ticket looks like during dandiya nights tambola

A ticket holds 15 of the 90 numbers, which is one sixth of them, so on average it has one sixth of the numbers called so far marked. By call 30 a typical ticket has 5 of its 15 numbers marked:

That is the average ticket, though. With 60 tickets in play, the best ticket reaches five marked numbers on call 11, and the best ticket completes all fifteen on call 69, long before an average ticket does. This gap between the average and the best ticket explains why the prizes in dandiya nights tambola are won so much earlier than the table above suggests.

A ready-made run sheet for dandiya nights tambola

Here is a run sheet for dandiya nights tambola that fits 100 minutes. The times are suggestions; stretch the snack break or shorten a round to suit your garba night.

The tambola rounds take 45 of the 100 minutes, which leaves room for food, photos and conversation. If you only have half the time, play one round and keep dandiya nights tambola for the full house, since the biggest prize makes the best ending.

Prize ideas for dandiya nights tambola: a gift for every pattern

Match the gift to the pattern: small gifts for the quick prizes and the best gift for the full house. These ideas fit a garba night:

Decor and dress ideas to go with the prizes:

• Colorful umbrellas and chunris on the ceiling
• A decorated garba deep at the center
• Dandiya sticks in a basket for prizes
• A photo wall in festival colors

Keep the prizes simple, wrap them in the theme colors and put them on a table where everyone can see them before the first call. A prize table in view keeps interest high all through dandiya nights tambola.

Garba night housie: three twists to try

Here is how garba night housie can be varied. A small twist makes the game feel planned. Pick one, or use all three across the rounds of dandiya nights tambola, and dandiya nights tambola stays quick whichever you choose.

Best dressed

The room votes for the best-dressed guest during the break, and the winner gets a bonus ticket.

Dandiya partner

The winner of Garba Ready chooses a partner for the next dandiya round.

Garba rhythm

The winner of Dhol Taasha leads the clapping rhythm for the next round.

If you like dandiya nights tambola, you may also enjoy Diwali Dhamaka Tambola, Rang Barse Holi Tambola, Teej Ki Bahaar Tambola, or browse the whole theme tambola collection.