As the sun sets, a group of women, young and aged, draped in white sarees march hurriedly towards a temple where they will sing hymns in praise of lord Krishna and in turn get `10 each. Majority of them are abandoned by their families after death of their husbands and live in deprivation with a belief that they will get salvation if they die in this city.
The holy city of Vrindavan, also known as City of widows, for the sheer number of women who find shelter here after being shunned by their families. There is also belief that God will not allow anyone to starve here so the widows swarm this city.
All these widows have different stories to tell. Asha Devi Mandal, 62, recounts how elder brother her husband tried to rape her. When she complained it to her mother in law she was branded inauspicious and was packed off to Vrindavan
She recalls how in her youth she was loved and admired by her in laws. “I was my mother- in law’s darling. But equation changed after death of my husband. I was not invited in marriages or any auspicious occasions because people in my village believed that even my shadow could bring bad fortune,” she said.
The plight of widow came to light after National legal Service Authority sought protection of these women from Supreme Court after death of a widow on the streets of Vrindavan in 2012. The court asked Government to take pro-active step and asked Sulabh International, an NGO, to extend financial help to widows. Sulabh adopted 1500 widows and gave them basic needs besides Rs 2000 to purchase essential commodities of life. These women are now learning the art of making agarbattis and garlands. These small steps have instilled a sense of security among these women.
Sulabh has also tried to add colour to the lives of these widows. Breaking tradition thousand of these widows played Holi – the festival of colour - on Monday in one of the oldest temples of the region constructed in 1559. This is the temple of Krishna. Priests chanted religious shlokas as these women who wear only white sarees splashed colours on each other to celebrate the festival unmindful of social stigma attached to women who have lost their husbands.