KARACHI: Holi, the Hindu festival of colour, was celebrated at the biggest congregation held at the big yard behind the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir here on Monday.

For a second year in a row, Holi is being celebrated here one day earlier than its actual date due to Shab-i-Barat. Holi is celebrated on the first full moon of March every year. This time coincides with the arrival of spring when the agricultural lands in this part of the world have mustard flowers in full bloom and its harvest time.

But Holi doesn’t stop at just celebrating the mustard flowers, it celebrates all flowers and therefore you see all colours being splashed around. Devotees love to rub pink or rosy red on each other’s cheeks. Yellow and orange colour is also a favourite. But those playing with colour love to keep a good supply of all colours with them. They are all walking around with little plastic sachets of the complete seven colours of the rainbow in their pockets. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, they have them all. And to add to those they also have silver and golden lending more shimmer and glow to the evening.

But before the colours come out, there is a lot to be thankful for and for that there is the prayer, orpuja ritual. There is the Holi Mata that is set ablaze after the prayers followed by newly-wed couples or couples with newborns first in line to gather blessings. All married women, too, are there in their pretty saris and their decorated thaalis (silver platters). They have kept a special fast on the day and they break their fast after the puja to enjoy the festivities with everyone else.

Due to Shab-i-Barat, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir celeberates Holi a day before actual date

Of course, children are the ones who enjoy Holi the most. They spare no one. There are plenty of stalls available at Shri Swaminarayan Mandir from where they can buy not just coloured powder but tiny pallets of permanent colour, too. To discourage them from buying the permanent colours, the power colours are sold at about Rs5 to Rs10 per pouch or sachet and the permanent colour for more than five times the price. Of course, the question does arise that why even sell the permanent colour in the first place, to which the stalls owners just smile, shrug and look away.

There are so many other things, too, to spray the colours such as spray guns, water pistols, spray bottles with pumps, water cannons, water balloons, etc.

Although Holi was celebrated at Shri Swaminarayan Mandir early, it will be celebrated at the other temples of the city on Tuesday (today) and Wednesday (tomorrow), also. In fact, it is also celebrated at colleges and university campuses by students throughout the week. To whoever is celebrating, wherever, Happy Holi!

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2023