Holi is the festival of colours. This has different regional name across India but celebrated with colors throughout India. It is called Dol-Jatra or Basanta Utsav in West Bengal, Hola Mohalla in Punjab, Khadi Holi in Uttarakhand, Shigmo in Goa, Manjal Kuli in Kerala, Phagua in Bihar and so on. Being a Bengali I will describe how Dol-jatra is celebrated in West Bengal; to be specific in Shantiniketan. Basanta Utsav is unique one and started by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It is so unique that you just have to witness it for yourself.
Basanta Utsav literally means the ‘celebration of spring’. The last two months of Bengali calendar Falgun and Chaitra are considered as Basanta or Spring. This is the season of Dol Utsav or Basanta. As it falls in the Spring season, the nature shows its own beauty with colorful flowers of Palash, Shimul etc. This festival is celebrated on Purnima that is full moon. The beautiful tradition of celebrating spring festival in Shntiniketan differs from rest of the Bengal, better to say rest of the India. It was first started by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore with his new idea and cultural richness. Later some other area tried to imitate the same thing but Shantiniketan holds its place on top from the beginning. One must go to that place at least once in his life time.
The day at Santiniketan starts with a procession of long musical dance followed by Tagore’s music, rhymes and dance by students of different Bhavanas (Departments). On that day Boys and girls, dressed in yellow (basanti) color, welcome spring – the season of hope, in a very elegant manner. This procession is lenthy one and starts with the kids section and then elder ones till the senior most students. And The song continues in repetitive mode “Ore Grihabasi, khol dwar khol, laglo je Dol”!
Later in the day, on Basanta Utsav, the students as well as the teachers apply ABEER (colored powders) on each other. Following the coloring tradition, the entire premises of the university gets filled with the colors of abeer. All people applies abeer to other, there is no need to know each other. A warm welcome is given to all the visitors and each of them is welcome to join in this merry making festival. The air is filled not only with a number of vivacious colors, but also with the feeling of joy and hope, making the entire atmosphere delightful. In the evening one of the selected Dance Drama of Tagore is presented to visitors by the students of Sangit Bhavana, Visvs-Bharati.
Since its inception, Basanta Utsav at Shantiniketan has become a milestone of Bengali history and has also captured international interest that is proved by the presence of numerous foreign tourists during its celebration.
So if you are really interested visit the place somewhere in March (the date gets changed based on the Full moon). If you need more detail about the place and all, you can comment here or message me.
(Images have been downloaded from google)
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This is a lovely description of the Basanta Utsav. I have never gone there, I will surely go there.
It is good to know that you liked the blog. I would suggest if must be there at least once in your life time. And as per people that the heritage is getting lost year after year so don't wait till you get old. Just plan and go, don't think twice.
An informative description about this annual festival celebrated all over India. It is especially enjoyed by children and many youngsters and elders too are game for it depending on whether they are used to it. The colors of the festivals depicts the colors of life with all its richness and vibrance. Nature too is at its best with new leaves coming and green seen all over. It is like life has taken a new birth. The atmosphere is electrifying and enjoyed by people of the country.
As suggested in the article the festival has many names in different parts of the country but the spirit is of freedom and celebration of life for what it is worth. Sweets and bhang too are served and so are functions held at many houses to celebrate the occasion. A festival which usually comes when children have exams but that does not seem to dampen their spirit and they seem eager to participate and have fun during the festival. That reflects the spirit of India.
Thank you Krishna for your input. It enriches the blog. I mainly covered the Holi observed at Shantiniketan which was started by great poet Rabindranath Tagore. Bhang is not served there. Also only Abeer (gulal) is used and no liquid/paint colour is used in that area. It is quite wll cultured and heritage kind of observation of Holi.