Iskcon shuns water for Holi celebrrations

There is further good news when it comes to saving water in the state this Holi — the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), which until recently celebrated Holi with water and colours, has decided to not use any water this year. The decision comes after an appeal from the chief minister for people to play a dry Holi owing to the drought in the state.

Apart from Iskcon, a group of women from an NGO also showed the right spirit by playing Holi with organic colours.

Lucky Kulkarni, spokesperson, Iskcon, said: "The present decision is that temple devotees and Iskcon followers play a dry Holi. We have a Vrindavan garden in our temple. We bring idols of Radha and Krishna to this garden and the devotees play Holi. Every year, the devotees would celebrate Holi by throwing organic colours mixed with water on the idols and on themselves. But this year, since we are facing a water shortage and with the state government's appeal, our temple management has called for a dry Holi. We will celebrate Holi with all the usual enthusiasm in our Vrindavan garden, but will play only with dry colours. Our temple management has instructed all the devotees to play Holi without water even at their homes this year."

Even as Iskcon has issued these directions to its devotees, a conscientious women's NGO, Puncham Group, played a dry Holi using flowers on Tuesday, with around 110 women participiating in the festivities after booking a place at Kalaghoda.

"We always play a dry Holi anyway and feel it is a great idea. Colours are not just harmful but one also ends up wasting a lot of water when cleaning up after the festivities. We always thought it was a great idea to play Holi with flowers. This year, when we heard that the CM has encouraged people to play a dry Holi, we felt really great about the idea we have been pursuing all along," said Rani Poddar from the group.