Playful Lathmar Holi in India
Dipped in hues of love and trust has come the festival of Holi.
The vibrant Hindu Spring festival of Holi marks the triumph of good over evil. The entire atmosphere is filled with colors of happiness and jubilation. Faces are smeared with different colors in all good spirits to start afresh. Lathmar Holi is the most famous Holi festival in India. It captures the collective spirit of the nation. The festival could be rightly considered as the violent festival of India. The playful use of sticks makes it different from the traditional Holi festival. It lives up to its name completely.
Vibrant hues of happiness.
This festival of Holi has its roots in Barsana, Nandgaon, and Vrindavan of Uttar Pradesh. These constitute the Braj Bhoomi - the holy land of Lord Krishna. The exuberant
Lathmar festivities bring these towns of India into the limelight. Preparations start taking their form from a week before the actual Holi. The sportive festival spreads to Vrindavan, slowly crawling in the whole of India.
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Mythology Behind Lathmar Holi
The legend says that Krishna used to visit
Barsana, where Radha lived, to tease and play with her. The women used to chase him with sticks in a sportive manner and hence the name, Lathmar.
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Lathmar Holi Festival In Barsana
A small village town in Uttar Pradesh, Barsana, is the cynosure of this light-hearted festival. It is celebrated with utmost fervor here. The Holi is celebrated in Barsana on the ninth day of the month of Phalgun. As per the custom goes, the women folks run behind the men, with who come from
Nandgaon to Barsana, with sticks to beat them up. If a man is accidentally caught by a woman, he is made to be clad in women's costumes and dance. These traditional activities are followed by the enthusiastic dances, ebullient festive moods, and merrymaking.
Women beating up men.
Bhajans are sung as the men happily dance around the women teasing them in order to provoke them. No male ego manifests itself during this festival. The men take utmost delight in being beaten up by the women of Barsana. On the following day, the men of Barsana march towards the land of Nandgaon to drench the women in colors.
The
entertaining vista is coupled with the divinely inspired songs, Hori, to echo in the atmosphere. The whole town is soaked in the energy of colors and happiness. This pleasing surrounding attracts a large number of tourists from India as well as abroad.
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CM Yogi Celebrated Lathmar Holi
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promoted Barsana's Lathmar Holi. Ahead of his visit, the walls of Mathura were painted saffron. His prime motive behind this was to promote Mathura(famous for Holi) as a tourist destination globally. He reached Radha Rani Temple to indulge in the festivities and spent around 30 minutes in the Sanctum sanctorum. He addressed the people followed by a visit to the Mata Ji gaushala. He said that a similar event 'Rasotsava-2018' will be organized in Chitrakoot. The event shall witness the spectacular dance performance of Hema Malini and a rendition of songs by Kailash Kher.
Lathmar Holi in India's land of Krishna is peculiar in its simplicity and fun. It boasts of a series of cultural activities that displays the collective spirit of the nation. Plan a
trip to Uttar Pradesh around the month of March-April and dip yourself in varied hues to derive the pleasure out of exploring the beauty that lies in roots of India.
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