It was ‘green Diwali’ this time for widows who started the celebration of the Festival of Lights inside the historic Gopi Nath temple in the holy city of Vrindavan on Sunday in keeping with the Supreme Court directive for ensuring pollution-free festivities.
The widows, some of them in their 90s and 100s, living in the ashrams in Vrindavan not only celebrated Diwali in style to dispel the darkness eclipsing their lives for ages, but also sent a bold message by celebrating it in an eco-friendly manner, restricting the celebrations to lighting ‘diyas’ (earthen lamps) and making ‘rangoli’ (designs on floor using coloured powder).
The pollution-free Diwali was celebrated for the first time by the widows in the light of the apex court’s reference to the air pollution levels in Delhi and the National Capital Region during and immediately after Diwali last year.
The court observed that due to the adverse effects of burning of fire crackers, “the air quality deteriorates abysmally and alarmingly and the city chokes thereby”.
Meanwhile, half-a-dozen ashrams where Sulabh International provides assistance, have been spruced up to match the occasion.
“With the aim to bring a ray of happiness in the twilight years of the widows, we have come up with this unique idea to organise the Festival of Lights, especially for them,” said well-known social reformer and founder of Sulabh Movement, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak.
The widows gathered at the courtyard of 400-year-old Gopi Nath temple, which was tastefully decorated with ‘rangoli’ and lights, and lit the ‘diyas’ as the sun set on the horizon.
They later sang ‘bhajans’ (hymns).
The Vrindavan widows have defied age old Indian traditions by celebrating not only Diwali but Holi and Raksha Bandhan, besides taking part in Durga Puja celebrations in West Bengal.
Around a thousand widows, mostly from West Bengal, have been living in Vrindavan for decades and they were not allowed to take part in festivals until Sulabh International extended a helping hand to them.
In places like Varanasi and Vrindavan, hundreds of widows live an isolated life to attain ‘moksha’ or liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Living in small rooms in narrow alleys, they spend most of their time praying and looking for food, in absence of family support.