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Vrindavan widows get drenched in Holi colours
Covid was at a low this year, so the widows were able to celebrate the festival of colours at Vrindavan’s famous Gopinath temple with full gaiety.
Agra : Challenging the age-old taboo on celebrating festivals, a large number of widows once again celebrated Holi at the historic Gopinath Temple in Vrindavan on Tuesday.
Fortunately, Covid was at a low this year, so the widows were able to celebrate the festival of colours at Vrindavan’s famous temple with full gaiety.
In recent years, Vrindavan’s Holi celebrations have become memorable occasions for thousands of widows who earlier faced humiliation and were not allowed to be part of any auspicious occasion. Their life changed for the better after the Supreme Court intervened and issued guidelines for their upkeep. Ashrams came up and NGOs like Sulabh International stepped forward to take care of them.
“Participation of widows in Holi symbolises a break from tradition which forbids a widow from wearing coloured clothes, among many other things,” said Bindeshwar Pathak, mentor of Sulabh Movement, in a statement. Sulabh International has been organizing Holi, Diwali and Rakshabandhan for these widows in Vrindavan.
Since early morning, a large number of widows living in various shelter homes started gathering at the Gopinath Mandir and prepared petals of various flowers .
The Holi celebration began with much fanfare amid song and dance performances. The widows, who wear only white sarees, smeared colours on each other to celebrate the festival, breaking away from years of social stigma attached to women who have lost their husband.
The organizers had arranged “gulal” (dry colour powder) in different hues and the widows, mostly from West Bengal, splashed colour and threw flower petals at each other. They danced and chanted Krishna bhajans and Holi songs, shared sweets with each other and enjoyed food.
While expressing joy, Gaurvani Dasi termed this celebration as “Holi of Hope” for thousands of widows living in Vrindavan and Varanasi. Chhabi Maa and Vimla Dasi also expressed great pleasure at being able to celebrate Holi.
