Seeking to dispel the darkness eclipsing their lives for ages, widows celebrated Diwali on the bank of river Yamuna at the historic KC Ghat in Vrindavan on Wednesday.
Maintaining social distancing, a few dozen widows living in various shelter homes took out a procession with colourful diyas to Yamuna and celebrated Diwali in style.
This is the eighth year in a row when widows symbolically participated in the celebration of the Festival of Lights. Thousands of widows, mostly from West Bengal, have been living in Vrindavan for decades and they are not allowed to take part in rituals at their homes. To bring some happiness in the lives of these widows and to counter the tradition of widowhood, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh Movement, came up with the unique idea to organise the Festival of Lights especially for the widows.
“We are playing a leading role in adding meaning to the lives of the widows by organising functions from time to time. Earlier, widows were treated as inauspicious and the age old Hindu social system prevented them from taking part in any auspicious occasion in India,” Pathak said.