Holi the festival of colours, marks the beginning of spring. Also the significance of burning the bonfire (Holika) is to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. Over the years the meaning of this festival has slowly changed in cosmopolitan cities. Owing it all to the diverse culture and traditions, each community celebrates the festival in a different way. This only brightens and adds colour to the festival of colours.
In Uttar Pradesh, Holi is celebrated on a grand scale, especially in 'Brijbhoomi' that includes Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Nandgaon, Gokul and many more villages. It is one of the biggest festivals confirms Rita Sharma a Kharghar resident. "In my hometown of Barsana, we follow a tradition of inviting people from the neighbouring villages. Women from the village gather at the Radha temple and play Lathmar Holi where they hit the men with sticks", said Sharma. She also added about the tradition of soaking tesu flower in water. The flowers leaves make the water colour yellow, this is the only colour used there. But now practices are changing slowly and colours are also being used.
Krishna Bhuchar a Vashi resident talks about how Holi is a get-together for friends and family. "We Punjabis after burning Holika rejoice by singing songs, dancing and also break our fasts" The following morning the day begins with meeting relatives. We visit most of our friends and family houses to play Holi and finally settle at some place to have our dinner together.
Bengali's have another reason to celebrate the occasion as it is the birthday of Chitanya Mahaprabhu, a saint who was known to be a incarnation of Lord Krishna. Asit Ghosh, president Bengal Trust says, "We normally perform a puja for Lord Krishna and then indulge in playing Holi with dry colours followed by Tagore dance"
In Rajasthan Holi is played for seven days (saptami). On the seventh it is believed to be the grandest of all days. This week long celebration starts with Shipla Mata's puja. Suresh Maheshwari a Sanpada resident says, "The women start the day by reading kathas and while playing Holi we dunk people in coloured water and take out processions and make sure that nobody goes home without being coloured"
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