The other shades of Holi

Holi, the festival of colours is one of the well-known festivals across the world. To most, the festival begins with Holika Dahan, where a pyre is lit to burn Holika, the evil. This ritual is followed by most communities, however, it is celebrated in various other ways across India. Here are few:

Yaosang (Manipur)

The festival is called Yaosang in Manipur, and is celebrated over six days. It begins with Yaosang Mei Thaba where a straw hut is burnt on the eve of the actual day. This is similar to the burning of Holika. Children go from door to door to collect monetary donations in a tradition called Nakatheng.

On the second day, local groups of musicians perform devotional songs in temples. The Govindajee's temple dedicated to Lord Krishna, is the most famous temple in Imphal. Also on the second and third days, girls have their own special Nakatheng where they block roads with ropes to collect money. On the fourth and fifth day, people splash water over each other. Another tradition is the moonlight dance called Thabal Chongba. During Yaosang, there is a statewide sports festival spread over five days. People of all ages and gender play sports like Kho Kho and there is even a special wrestling event for old men.

Hola Mohalla (Punjab)

Sikhs have their own celebration called Hola Mohalla. This is celebrated the day after traditional Holi is played. Hola Mohalla literally means 'charge of an army or an organised march of a military column' and celebrates the great martial tradition of Sikhs. This festival was the brainchild of Guru Gobind Singhji, the 10th Sikh Guru, who wanted to motivate his troops engaged in constant battle with Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In March 1701, Guru Gobind Singh organised a day of mock battles and poetry at the Lohaghar fort. The tradition soon spread to Anandpur Saheb in Ropar district of Punjab, where a three-day fair is held where traditional martial arts is performed. Today, Hola Mohalla is celebrated not just in Punjab but by the Sikh community around the world.

Dol Yatra (Odisha and Bengal)

People of Odisha celebrate Dol Yatra on the day of Holi and idols of Lord Jagannath, Balbhadra and Subhadra are placed in elaborately decorated palanquins and taken to the Dolamandapa at the Jagannath temple in Puri. The procession, carrying palanquins through villages and cities is called Dol Melana and a traditional lunch called bhoga is served to all devotees. Only natural colours like Abir are used and they are smeared on the feet of the deity. A version of this is also celebrated in Bengal where idols of Radha and Lord Krishna are placed on swings. They are then taken in beautiful palanquins on a procession on the day of Dol Purnima. People wear saffron or white clothes and fresh flowers. They sing and dance to traditional instruments like ektara. The bhog includes malpua, saffron sandesh and payesh.

Holi in Vrindavan's widow ashrams

Widows had been traditionally excluded from festivities, but, the women in Vrindavan's shelter for abandoned widows have been breaking tradition to play Holi for several years. It first started at the famous Pagal Baba widow shelter and gradually spread across the city. The Holi festivities of widows begin with first symbolically playing colours with Lord Krishna in large and small temples across Vrindavan. They then play with colours and flower petals. Often widows prepare a bed of flower petals and sometimes even playfully bury each other in these petals. In 2016, for the first time in 400 years, widows played Holi at the famous Gopinath temple and even priests and commoners joined in.