E-Paper
Temples drenched in colours of Holi in Braj
Holi is celebrated with dry ‘gulal’ till ‘Rangbharni Ekadashi’ and thereafter celebrations with watercolours start in Braj region
With an auspicious day of ‘Rangbharni Ekadashi’ on Monday, the festivities of Holi spread to each and every corner of Mathura and Vrindavan, and its temples were drenched in colours. As per the tradition, Holi is celebrated with dry ‘gulal’ till ‘Rangbharni Ekadashi’ and thereafter celebrations with watercolours start in the lanes of Mathura and temples.
Holi is not a one-day festival in Mathura and Vrindavan and begins from Basant Panchami and continues for more than a month. More popular parts of the festival of colours are Laddoo Holi and Latha-maar Holi at Barsana, Latha-maar Holi at Nandgaon, Huranga at Dauji Temple, besides other events at prominent temples, including Bankey Behari Temple, Dwarkadeesh Temple and Sri Krishna Janambhoomi Temple to name a few.
“As per tradition, Holi begins from Basant Panchami but is celebrated with dry colours till Rangbharni Ekadashi (Monday). Now onwards, watercolours will be used, and Lord Krishna will shower colour over his devotees reaching the temple premises,” says Padam Shri awardee Mohan Swaroop Bhatia.
Rakesh Tiwari, managing affairs at renowned Dwarkadeesh Temple in Mathura, informed that fervour for Holi revelry reaches another pitch with Rangbharni Ekadashi.
“Devotees throng the temple premises and feel blessed as colour falls on them in the premises of Dwarkadeesh Temple today. It all began at 10 am on Monday and continued for an hour,” informed Tiwari, who added that this is an important event as ‘Dwarkadeesh Maharaj’ (Lord Krishna) moves to bagicha (garden) on March 16 to celebrate Holi with his devotees.
Sri Krishna Janambhoomi premises had devotees coming in from nearby districts on Monday to be part of elaborate cultural events organised on temple premise, considered to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
“The tradition of ‘Latha-maar’ Holi also continues at Sri Krishna Janambhoomi when ‘huriyare’ (Holi revellers) reach here from village Rawal (the village where Radha was born). If you visit any corner of Mathura or Vrindavan, you will find Holi being celebrated from today onwards,” stated Bhatia, who is on his way to Mathura village to be part of ‘samaj gayan’ (community singing) as part of Holi celebration in Braj heartland.
