Colours, fun, rituals, delicacies mark Holi festivities
   Date :11-Mar-2023

Holi festivities  
 
 
Staff Reporter
Bringing brightness and colours back to life, once again festival of colours Holi was celebrated with great enthusiasm by Jabalpurians putting vibrant colours on each other’s faces. With colours, love and cheer, the festival was celebrated with much fervour and zest. Especially for youths, Holi was all about colours, gulaal and mouth-watering delicacies.
People celebrated Holi in a joyous manner right from playing with different colours and eating large servings of ‘gujiyas’, to burning the Holika bonfire that signifies the victory of good over evil and putting tilaks on the forehead of brothers as a mark of protection from evil eyes.
To stay protected from the harsh impacts of chemical-based colours, majority of the people preferred ‘Geru’ (Yellow mud) to play Holi which marked the beginning of the Spring and harvest season. Spread across two days, the festival started on the evening of the first day i.e. ‘Holika Dahan’ where pyres were burnt. The next day, people assembled together to play and smeared each other with colours. In the old city, people came out of their homes in groups dancing with the tunes of dhols. The very next day of Holi was marked as ‘Bhai-Dooj’ where the sisters put tilak with Gulal on the foreheads of their brothers with the wishes of their prosperity, happiness and protection. Bhai-Dooj was celebrated at every household along with different ashrams.
Cultural evenings were organised at different corners of the city where Kavi Sammelans, Kavya Nisha and Kawwali and Gazal programmes were enjoyed by the people. Devotees also played Holi with flower petals at different temples and ashrams including Baldauji ka Mandir, Milouniganj, Gyaneshwari Didi’s ashram, Hare Krishna Ashram, Bheraghat and Osho Ashram, Devtal.