Share
Replete in colours of all possible sort, members of the Hindu community in Dimapur celebrating Holi on Monday.[/caption]
Dimapur, March 13: People from the Hindu community, besides some from other communities on Monday gathered to celebrate the festival of colours, Holi, on March 13 at Marwaripatti, outside the premises of the Digamber Jain mandir in Dimapur.
Holi is a Hindu spring festival celebrated in India and Nepal, also known as the “festival of colours” or the “festival of love”. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships.
It is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest. It lasts for two days starting on the Purnima (Full Moon day) falling in the Vikram Samvat Hindu Calendar month of Phalgun, which falls somewhere between the end of February and the middle of March in the Gregorian calendar. The first day is known as Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi and the second as Rangwali Holi, Dhuleti, Dhulandi or Dhulivandan.
[caption id="attachment_102932" align="alignnone" width="561"]
Construction workers of the St Joseph’s College celebrating Holi at the College campus on March 13.[/caption]
According to a resident of Marwaripatti who was taking part in the festivities, the programme started at 9 am with an exciting music session. A group of Rajasthani traditional singers performed on stage and entertained the crowd.
Adding more to the festival was people from different groups such as Bengali, Bihari, Marwari, Punjabi and Nepali who came and participated in the ceremony. They hugged one another and played with colours as one family during the event.
After the programme, some engaged in traditional feasting, merrymaking with food and sweets, while some visited friends and families.
Some of the people present there said that that they had been preparing from weeks ago by gathering in small groups and playing hand drums called the ‘chung’. They asserted that during the festive event ‘even enemies hug one another as brothers.’
Holi is a celebration of the beginning of spring, besides a day to forgive and reconcile. Breakfast and lunch were provided to the people who were present during the ceremony.
The 93rd Battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday celebrated the Holi, the festival of colours, at their battalion ground in Chedema, about 10 Kms from Kohima.
DK Pathak, former Director General of BSF and Chairman of Ceasefire Monitoring Group (CFMG), graced the occasion as the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, Pathak commended the Commandant 93rd Battalion for organising the festival in a grand manner and for making it possible for the jawans of the battalion who are posted far away from their homes for the defence of the country to, celebrate Holi memorably.
[caption id="attachment_102937" align="alignnone" width="561"] [/caption]
He also extended hearty Holi greetings to all the troops and their families and exhorted them to celebrate the festival of colours to bring peace, unity and harmony in the country.
Earlier, Commandant of the 93rd BSF, Hemant Kumar welcomed the guests, including the chief guest, Director General of Police (Prisons) Nagaland Rupin Sharma and Deputy Commissioner, Kohima, Rajesh Soundararajan.
The jawans of the battalion also presented colourful cultural performances and songs during the occasion.