Barely a week from now, Vrindavan will witness a thrilling event when a 1,000-odd old widows from Varanasi and Vrindavan sprinkle colours on each other as part of ‘Holi’ celebrations from March 3, in a departure from age-old tradition that forced women who have lost their husband to lead a colourless life.
This Holi will bring some colour to the lives of the Vrindavan widows, who wear only white sarees, living on the margins of society, forgotten and abandoned by all, said social reformer and mentor of Sulabh Movement Bindeshwar Pathak.
At least 1,000 kilograms of “gulal” of different colours are being arranged to be splashed on each other to oppose “widowhood “practice still prevalent in orthodox Indian society. Usually, such women are not allowed to play with colours and participate in any auspicious function after death of husband in Indian traditional society.
The temple town of Vrindavan will witness the unique Holi on March 3 when large number of widows in their white sarees will be seen applying gulals” on each other to celebrate their freedom from the shackles social stigma. “Their participation in Holi symbolises a break from tradition which forbids a widow from wearing colour saree, among many other things,” says Pathak.
The celebrations will conclude on the Holi day on March 6. This time, a number of widows from Varanasi will also join them in Holi celebration. A few days back, hundreds of widows living in Varanasi for the first time played with ‘gulal’ at famous Assi Ghat on the banks of Ganga in Benaras.
It is an effort to bring widows to mainstream and help their social assimilation, Pathak stated, explaining the reason behind organising the special Holi for thousands of hitherto ignored widows living in various ashrams in Vrindavan for salvation. Vrindavan is known as the “City of Widows” for the sheer number of women who find shelter here after being shunned by their families. Most of these widows hail from West Bengal.
“Such colourful celebration will bring about some change in the mindset. But it will not be easy. We are trying such initiatives in humble way,” observed Pathak. The Supreme Court time and again lambasted the Centre and Uttar Pradesh Government for the pathetic condition of widows living in Vrindavan.
In the light of the apex court’s observation about two years ago, Pathak’s organisation ‘Sulabh’ pledged to extend all support to bring back the dignity for thousands of widows. Since 2012, Sulabh is taking care of all widows living in five Government-run shelters by giving Rs 2,000 per month to each of them.