Kathmandu, 13 March: People have been busy celebrating the festival of Holi, or Fagu Purnima, by throwing colors at each other since this morning. It is rare to see people celebrating Holi smearing colors and pouring water on others without permission.
Until a few years ago, buckets of water were poured on those who went out of their homes on Holi. People were painted with strong colors, including abir, so that they were unrecognizable. The chemicals mixed with colors and water were used to cause problems for passersby. For the past few years, it has been seen that the festival of Fagu Purnima, or Holi, is being observed in the cultural city of Kathmandu. Even when people who do not celebrate Fagu festival walk on the streets, no one has thrown water and colors at them.
Generally, this year, no one was seen doing any wrong in the name of the culture of Phagu Purnima against the wishes of others. People enjoyed themselves. They played Phagu with their families and neighbors. They offered tika. They exchanged happiness. They increased mutual harmony. The festival of Phagu Purnima (Holi), which is celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Phagun, has started being celebrated relatively peacefully in the capital and hilly and mountainous districts today.
Until a few years ago, people used to throw colored water balls against their will on the day of Phagu Purnima (Holi). This practice has been stopped since a few years ago. Most of the people playing Phagu on the streets were children. Children also do not use colored water balls and throw water balls on people walking on the streets like they used to. The number of people playing Holi by ‘reserving’ their cars is negligible. Mangal Bahadur Tamang, a young man celebrating the Phagu festival at Jorpati Chowk, says that people who celebrate the festival only among friends and acquaintances do not do anything to those who drive or walk on the streets.
In particular, young women were made to feel psychologically unable to go out by filling their loincloths with water a week in advance. Many people who were found on the streets said that they were able to walk easily even on the day of the Fagu festival this year. Although there were exceptions, there was no abuse with dirty water, even if they were forcibly dyed. Even if they celebrated festivals on the streets because they had free time, those who had to go out for urgent work were painted against their will, which used to create a very tense environment until a few years ago.
Special activity in the renovated Basantapur
On the occasion of this festival, people present in Basantapur, Kathmandu, have started celebrating special Roompa Holi, or Fagu Purnima festival today. Since morning, the Basantapur Durbar area in Hanuman Dhoka, which is listed in the World Heritage List, has seen an increase in the number of people. It is seen that those who have gathered in the Basantapur Durbar area are only applying colors to people they know and throwing water Lolas. Fagu Purnima festival is being celebrated in the Basantapur Durbar area throughout the day today.
The Chir buried there is ritually burned in the evening, making the environment colorful. The flags placed in the Chir are taken out and burned with the belief that they will have medicinal properties, and the ashes of the Chir are administered as a tika to ward off evil. For this, people throng the Basantapur Durbar area till evening.
On the eighth day of Falgun Shukla Ashtami, on Falgun 23, a colorful flag-draped tree was planted in front of the Gaddi Baithak in Basantapur to worship the festival. It is believed that Holi began after the planting of the flag in Basantapur. That is why, until a few years ago, people used to throw colors and Lola with the intention of causing trouble to others from Falgun Shukla Ashtami. This practice has now stopped in the Basantapur Durbar area as well, informed Binod Kumar Rajbhandari, Chairman of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward No. 24.
On the occasion of the festival of Fagu Purnima, or Holi, it is customary to feed a demon named ‘Gurumapa’ in Tundikhel ten pathis of rice and a piece of meat brought from Itumbahal without leaving any place, and then bathe it in a stream called ‘Jadhu’ inside the military hospital.
In the Treta Yuga, the demon king Hiranyakashipu, with the intention of killing his son Prahlad, a devotee of Vishnu, forced his sister Holika, who had received a boon from Brahma that she could not be touched by fire, to enter a burning fire with Prahlad. The story of Holika herself being burnt to ashes but the devotee Prahlad not being touched by fire is associated with this festival. Since then, the tradition of playing Holi (Phagu) has been going on to commemorate the killing of Holika, who has become a symbol of the sinful tendency to misuse power.
Similarly, in the Dwaparyuga, the demon Putana, who was sent by Kansa to kill Lord Krishna, failed to suck his poisoned breast and was killed. It is also mentioned in religious scriptures that the people of Vraja burn her to celebrate the Phagu festival, says Dr. Ramchandra Gautam, a theologian and former chairman of the Nepal Panchanga Nirikhaya Bikash Samiti.
Since well-prepared colors and abir prevent skin diseases, playing Phagu using such colors destroys the phlegm produced in the body during the winter. This festival also has Ayurvedic importance as the smoke from the burning rags eliminates the germs that cause many diseases during the winter.
The government has been giving public holidays since the tradition to mark the Fagu festival. On this occasion, the government has given holidays in 56 districts of the Himalayan and hilly regions today. The Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that holidays have been given in 21 districts of the Terai region on Friday. In this way, the Fagu Purnima festival is celebrated across the country.
On the occasion of this festival, nowadays, the evils like consuming intoxicants like marijuana, bhang, and alcohol for fun, using chemicals that have adverse effects on the body, and even hitting vehicles with a stick have also been reduced. Every year, the Fagu festival is celebrated on the full moon day of Falgun in the hilly districts and on the day of Falgun Krishna Pratipada in the Terai districts.
