Thousands of people gathered together in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday to celebrate Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colors, in open defiance of anti-coronavirus mandates such as social distancing and mask-wearing.
Holi is a Hindu spring festival during which people shower each other in brightly colored powders and dance together; it falls on March 29 this year in India. Holi is celebrated for an entire week in certain parts of Uttar Pradesh, where the festival has developed unique rituals as part of a local iteration known as Lathmar Holi, or “Holi of Lath,” with “lath” meaning a wooden stick in Hindi.
Lathmar Holi sees women recreate a Hindu myth in which Radha, a companion of Lord Krishna, was offended by Krishna’s advances toward her and drove him out of her hometown. Women reenact the playful courtship during the festival by softly hitting men with wooden sticks as they guard themselves with shields. Men who fail to protect themselves are mockingly captured by the women and forced to dress in female clothing and dance in public. Dozens of women were seen reenacting the myth without masks or social distancing on Wednesday in Barsana, a town outside the Uttar Pradesh city of Mathura.
“The festivities surrounding legends and local folklore started on Tuesday and will go on till 30th March. Holi festivities also have a different name for each day like Lathmar Holi of Barsana and Nandgaon, Phoolwalon Ki Holi at Vrindavan’s Bankey Bihari Temple, Gokul Holi and the Widows’ Holi in Vrindavan,” India’s NDTV news site reported on Wednesday.
Hundreds of people swarmed the Shri Radha Rani Temple in Barsana to celebrate Laddu Mar Holi on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh has imposed several restrictions on gatherings and will closely monitor travel into the state as part of its efforts to control the spread of coronavirus during the festival.
People arriving in Uttar Pradesh for Holi celebrations must be tested for the Chinese coronavirus if they are coming from an Indian state that recently reported a surge in new coronavirus cases, according to an official state mandate. Health officials will test the travelers at railway stations, bus depots, and airports.
The organizers of any publicly staged Holi events in Uttar Pradesh must first seek the state’s approval for the gathering ahead of time. “Holi festivities like rain dance parties and other open dance programs have been banned in the capital, [and] permissions given to such programs earlier have been withdrawn,” the district magistrate of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, told the Press Trust of India on March 25.
“The state government has also asked senior citizens above 60 years of age, children below 10, and individuals with co-morbidities to refrain from participating in public celebrations,” the Hindustan Times reported Thursday.