Notwithstanding rain, Lathmaar Holi celebrated with gusto in Mathura

In spite of intermittent showers and cold conditions, the annual Lathmaar Holi was celebrated with great fanfare at the Shri Krishna Janmasthan temple complex here.

Lathmaar Holi is a local celebration of the festival in Mathura that is a precursor to the actual Holi where thousands congregate each year. Lathmaar Holi means "the Holi in which people hit others with sticks (lath)".

Owing to inclement weather punctuated by light to heavy rain on Friday, some programmes were curtailed but spectators were thrilled to see the famous Charkula dance and Mayur dance, Kapil Sharma, secretary of Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, said.

He said Holi celebrated at the temple has a special attraction for festival lovers as they get to see it in Mathura.

While the Holi celebrated in Barsana or Nandgaon (villages in Mathura associated with Lord Krishna) sees people from different villages converging for the festival, the Holi celebrated in Rawal (another village in Mathura) has men and women from the same village taking part in festivities, Sharma claimed.

The crowd was excited when it finally got to see Lathmaar Holi festivites. At the beginning of Lathmaar Holi, women find ways to strike fleeing men with their sticks even as men try to save themselves from getting hit.

It was interesting to see policemen also running for cover as the women chased them down with their sticks. No untoward incident has been reported, Mathura District Magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra said.

In the afternoon, the idol of Lord Krishna was placed on a chariot and passed through the main streets of the city.

Later in the evening, the devotees played Holi throwing colours at each other at different temples in the area.

The maximum crowd was seen at Bankey Behari temple and seven ancient temples of Vrindavan.

In Bankey Behari temple, rose powder or gulal was thrown on devotees in the form of 'prasadam' as everyone played Holi with the principal deity, head priest Vijai Krishna Goswami said.

The festivities that began on Friday will continue here till March 10 when Holi would be celebrated all over the country, another priest said.