Holi celebrated with fervour, gaiety in Kullu

KULLU, MARCH 7

The Holi festival was celebrated here with religious fervour and gaiety. People of all religions and communities went through the streets of the town singing Holi songs while playing with colours.

People participated in processions accompanied by local ‘baza’ (orchestra) at Akhara Bazar, Sultanpur, Dhalpur, Sarwari and Gandhi Nagar areas. The groups from various regions assembled on the premises of Lord Raghunath at Sultanpur and played Holi with chief deity. They also visited various houses in their locality and sang traditional Holi lyrics and played with ‘gulal’.

The festival here is compared to Holi of Vrindavan and Mathura as many traditional rituals and customs are linked to this colourful event here. The Mahants, a community that came here along with the idols of Lord Rama and Sita from Ayodhya in the mid-17th century, play Holi with the chief deity of Kullu Lord Raghunath during the ‘holashtak’. They take out processions at various places and sing Holi songs for 40 days.

The Holi festival begins after Basant Panchami here which was held on January 26.

The last day of the Holi concluded today in which local deities participated. “Phaag” ceremony scheduled for the evening will mark the culmination of the festival at the erstwhile ruler’s palace at Raghunathpur.

The chief deity of Kullu Lord Raghunath is brought in a colourful palanquin and a large heap of wood and grass, having a long mast with a flag in the centre of the pyre, is put on fire to symbolise ‘Holika Dahan’. The Mahants from different parts of the town leap across the burning pyre to claim the flag. The legend holds that the family achieving the flag is blessed to have fruitful returns.