Thousands of devotees on Thursday celebrated the Holi, a Hindu religious festival of colours, across the country with due religious fervour and much enthusiasm.
“Marking the festival, a large number of devotees thronged the Dhakeswari National Temple in the morning to offer abir, a pink colored powder, at the foot of lord Krishna. Devotional songs were also played on loudspeakers and devotees also sang songs in praise of lord Krishna,” Dhakeswari National Temple spokesman Advocate Taposh Kummar Paul told BSS.
He said the Dol Purnima began on Wednesday and it will continue throughout the day on Thursday.
The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many it is a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships. The day is also celebrated as a thanksgiving occasion for a good harvest.
The festival, also known as Dol Purnima (full moon day), began in the morning and continued till the afternoon amid fanfare. It also usually lasts for two days starting on the Purnima in several parts of the country.
As a ritual in celebration of the festival, the devotees are visiting the shrines, temples and offering colours (abir) at the feet of Idol of the God Sri Krishna and Goddess Sri Radhika.
Abir Khela (game), a significant part of the festival, means throwing of abir, a kind of perfumed and pink coloured powder and different other colorful powders by revelers on each other making festival-goers coated in colour to make the extravaganza enthusiastic.
In the morning on Thursday, the premises of Dhakeswari National Temple wore a festive look with the ‘abir khela’ participated by a huge number of devotees, especially young men and women.
Clad in colorful shares or punjabees, hundreds of devotees joined the one of the biggest celebrations of the Hindu community in the present days.
