1 March : People across the country are celebrating Holi on Monday, the festival of colours which begins on Basant Panchami while thousands of devotees performed ‘Pongala’ ritual in one of world’s largest religious congregations of women at the famed Attuakal Bhagavathi temple in Thiruvananthapuram a day ago.
The colors of Holi are symbolic of our diverse and multicultural society and country.
The Holika Dahan or the lighting of bonfire on the eve of Holi takes place on Sunday evening, on the eve of Dhulendi.
The festival which marks the onset of spring brings together people from all classes and age groups as they play with colors distribute sweets and take out processions, dancing to the tunes of drums in a mélange of colors.
The festival has found its way into the Guinness Book of Records as world’s largest religious gathering of women on a single day.
Songs, dances and bright colours filled the streets of Mathura city in Uttar Pradesh, to mark the celebrations of Holi, in which foreign devotees also participated.
Followers, offered their prayers to Bal Krishna, the childhood incarnation of Lord Krishna.
They beat drums and danced to the songs in praise of Lord Krishna.In Gokul, people from across the country thronged the temples of the town.
Bal Krishna’s idol kept in a palanquin was decorated with flowers and taken to the banks of River Yamuna in a procession.