reaking taboo and age old tradition of the society, a large number of widows living in ashrams of Mathura once again joined Diwali celebration on the bank of the river Yamuna in the holy town of Vrindavan on Friday.
In the age-old Hindu society, widows were treated as "inauspicious" and they were not allowed to take part in any auspicious functions and rituals. Till a few years ago, widows living in Varanasi and Vrindavan were keeping themselves away from Holi and Diwali celebrations.
This evening around hundred widows living in various shelter homes gathered at the historic KC ghat and lit colourful diyas and celebrated the festival of light with gaiety.
The widows decorated the ghat and lit hundreds of earthen lamps. They chanted Krishna bhajans and danced in the presence of other devotees.
This programme was organised by Sulabh International under the mentorship of Dr Bindeshwar Pathak.
Thousands of widows, mostly from West Bengal, have been living in Vrindavan for decades and they were not allowed to take part in rituals till social organisation Sulabh International extended them a helping hand, said Dr Pathak .
“I am happy that our initiative has impacted the society in bigger ways and such bad traditions are vanishing rapidly,” Dr Pathak said in a statement.