New Delhi, March 4 – Holi festivities swept across India on Wednesday, with vibrant colors, lively music, and traditional celebrations as people exchanged sweets to mark the triumph of good over evil with smiles.
From temple rituals in Mathura-Vrindavan, the vibrant "Dhulandi" celebrations in Rajasthan, to AAP's "Kattar Imandar Holi" in the national capital, cities and villages were filled with color as devotees and locals celebrated Holi with great enthusiasm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended Holi greetings, saying the festival infuses the atmosphere with new energy.
"My warmest greetings to all fellow citizens on the occasion of Holi. May this festival, filled with colors and joy, bring happiness to everyone," Modi said in a Hindi message.
"This festival infuses the entire atmosphere with new energy. This is the greatest specialty of this celebration. The way the colors of happiness are seen everywhere, it leaves everyone with exuberance and joy," he said.
The temple town of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh celebrated Holi with traditional fervor, with devotees and locals participating.
Holi was celebrated outside the Bankey Bihari temple, but not within the sanctum.
The village of Bachchgaon in the district celebrated "Chappal Holi," where elders playfully hit younger members with slippers, following a 150-year-old tradition that began as a protest against British rule.
A similar tradition was observed in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where the "Lat Sahab" procession was taken out, with participants chanting slogans and symbolically striking the "Lat Sahab" with shoes.
This annual procession marks a centuries-old Holi tradition where a man representing a colonial-era "Lat Sahab" – a figure of authority – is paraded through the town on a bullock cart, while participants chant slogans and strike him with shoes in a symbolic act of mischief.
In Delhi, AAP leaders, including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, celebrated what they called "Kattar Imandar Holi" at Manish Sisodia's residence.
"Today, the colors of 'kattar imandaar' (staunch honest) will be seen, not the colors of corruption. This Holi is very special for AAP," Sisodia said, days after a Delhi court gave a clean chit to him, Kejriwal, and 21 others in the excise policy case.
Rahul Gandhi celebrated Holi with party workers at the Congress office, applying colors on everyone before being smeared with "gulal" in return.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "Happy Holi to everyone. May the colors of Holi fill your lives with new hopes, new enthusiasm, and countless happiness."
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "On this joyous occasion that bridges distances, I wish you all a very Happy Holi. May your life always be filled with the colors of happiness."
Jammu celebrated Holi with gaiety, with Army and paramilitary forces joining the festivities along the Indo-Pak border.
The main celebrations were held across Jammu city, where people of different communities exchanged greetings and shared festive delicacies in a spirit of harmony.
Army and BSF troops deployed along the LoC and International Border celebrated Holi with border residents and NGOs.
"Dhulandi," often referred to as the main day of Holi or "Rangwali Holi," was celebrated across Rajasthan, a day after partial observance in some areas due to a lunar eclipse.
In Jaipur, a Holi Milan ceremony was organized at the chief minister's residence, where Bhajanlal Sharma played Holi with domestic and foreign tourists, and members of former royal families.
In Ajmer's Pushkar, a large number of tourists, including foreigners, attended the International Holi Festival at the fairground.
In Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh, people celebrated Holi with traditional zeal, smearing "gulal" on each other, and exchanging sweets to mark the occasion.
A huge crowd of devotees flocked to Anandpur Sahib in Punjab for the "Holla Mohalla" festival of the Sikh community, offering prayers at the Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib.
In West Bengal, people continued the festivities on Wednesday, a day after "Doljatra".
Bonhomie and camaraderie marked the occasion, as revellers danced to popular songs while children splashed passers-by with colors, cutting across religious and linguistic divides.
The revelry was particularly lively in Kolkata’s Burrabazar, Chitpur, Bhawanipur, Lake Town, and Kashipur, which house a sizable north Indian population.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on X: "HAPPY HOLI! May this vibrant festival fill every home with joy and color."
The festival of colors was celebrated with much enthusiasm in Telangana and Odisha, while traditional fervor marked Holi in Jharkhand, with revellers smearing one another with "gulal," and dancing to the tunes of traditional Holi songs.
In Hyderabad, children and youth revelled in Holi celebrations at apartments and residential complexes, with north Indian communities organizing "Holika Dahan" to mark the festival.
In Puri, special arrangements were made for foreign tourists participating in Holi festivities, while hoteliers and lifeguards were asked to keep a close watch on tourists to prevent drowning incidents at Puri beach. TEAM
