Advent of spring: Holi celebrated in twin cities

A muted affair in Rawalpindi saw solemn service

RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD: The Hindu community in the twin cities celebrated the spring festival of Holi on Sunday.

The Hindu festival marks the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring and the end of winter. It also commemorates the killing of Raja Hiranyakashipu, an ancient prince who claimed to be a god but was opposed by his son Prahlada.

In Rawalpindi, the main gathering for Hindus was at the Krishna Mandir at Kabari Bazaar, Railway Road in Saddar. The temple had been specially decorated for the day.

The event had been organised by the Pakistan Hindu and Sikh Welfare Association.

The association’s president Jagmohan Kumar Arora said that a special worship service was organised at the temple with parashad distributed among the devotees.

Later they threw colour on each other. The different colours, Arora explained, signified the advent of spring.

Arora said that this year most of the local Hindus celebrated Holi at their homes, distributing sweets among their neighbours – Hindu or otherwise.

In Islamabad, Holi was held at the Lok Virsa on Sunday.

A large number of people, including members of the Hindu community, participated in the festivities.

National Assembly member and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council Dr Ramesh Kumar noted that the festivities bringing members of different communities together.

“We want to celebrate each and every festival together as all festival belong to this soil,” he said, adding that the ancient Hindu religious festival - which is also known as the spring festival, the festival of colours or the festival of love - is no longer limited to the Hindu community but also being celebrated widely across the world. “The purpose behind celebrating the Holi festival is to promote the common basis of ‘Love of God and Love of the neighbour, Love of the Good and Love of the neighbour’ among all religions,” Dr Ramesh said.

Lok Virsa Executive Director Fouzia Saeed said that they were trying to celebrate every festival.

“The celebration of Holi had been forgotten but we will make sure that we keep celebrating it like other festivals such as Diwali, Baisakhi, Basant, Nauroz and much more,” she said.

The festival started with a dhamal, but the highlight of the festival were the dances and traditional songs.

One of the participants, Samina Arshad, said that Pakistan needs such festivals since it helps in nation building.

“We live in an environment of suffocation and such events not only bring us together but provide us with an opportunity for entertainment”.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2017.