Holi Revelry Begins in India as People Celebrate Lathmar Ceremony with Sticks and Flowers – Video
14:49 GMT 15.03.2022 (Updated: 10:42 GMT 19.07.2022)
© AFP 2023 /
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Lathmar Holi is a traditional celebration which takes place every year in India in the run-up to the magnificent and colourful festival of Holi.
The streets of Mathura and Vrindavan in the state of Uttar Pradesh are buzzing with pre-Holi revelry as people begin their celebrations with the Lathmar ceremony in which women hit men with sticks while men defend themselves with a shield.
Several videos are doing the rounds on the internet in which men can be seen sitting holding a shield above their head while women continue to strike it with a baton.
Each year at the time of Holi men living in Nandagaon - which according to legend is where Lord Krishna lived for nine years and 50 days with his foster father Nanda Baba and his mother Yashoda - visit Barsana (where Krishna's consort, the Hindu goddess Radha lived), and protect themselves from the women's blows with a shield.
Lathmar holi celebration : women beat up men with sticks at nandgaon in mathura
— Chetna Parmar (@chetnaparmar631) March 15, 2022
"HARE RAMA HARE KRISHNA "
😍🙏🏻🌸🌺 pic.twitter.com/V87LdGspUy
नंदगांव की लठमार होली#Holi #Holi2022 #LathmarHoli pic.twitter.com/QqWHbjCYFt
— Dr KN Gupta (@Drkailashnaath) March 12, 2022
Dancing to the chants of Lord Krishna and Holi songs, hundreds of widows wearing white saris ring in the festival on Tuesday by throwing flower petals and colours at each other. The point of the festival is to defy the age-old social stigma whereby a widow is not supposed to dress in gaudy colours after her husband has died.
Widows of Vrindavan once again celebrated the festival of colours #Holi at the historic Gopinath Temple in Vrindavan. https://t.co/kDA4wibJGP pic.twitter.com/4xFcCIXOxL
— Sulabh International (@SulabhIntl) March 15, 2022
Holi - the festival of colours - falls on 18 March but in the run-up to the celebration people in the cities and towns of Uttar Pradesh will have already been running riot, covering their neighbourhood in bright colours.
आपने सुना क्या...???
— 𝕯𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖆𝖏 𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖍 𝕯𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖚 (@DhirajDhiru5200) March 15, 2022
"बम भोले बम बम"
काशी ❣️🙏 पारंपरिक महाश्मशान मणिकर्णिका की मशान वाली होली संपन्न हुई।❤️
हर हर महादेव 🙌🚩#Holi2022 #Holi pic.twitter.com/Vb19QuAa7B
#barsana #holi #vrindavan pic.twitter.com/mRXp0ZhOpT
— Pranjal Sharma (@pranjalhindu) March 15, 2022
Will be sharing widow holi pictures soon…meanwhile enjoy our look and vibe haha⭐️🤎
— Roshani Shah (@roshagulla16) March 15, 2022
.#Holi #widowholi #vrindavan #tuesdayvibe pic.twitter.com/tbtXcm01B0
Lathmar Holi is a celebration based on a legend about Lord Krishna who wanted to spray his beloved Radha and her friends with "gulal" (dry colour powder) on Holi day to tease them. Instead, Radha playfully drove Lord Krishna away by hitting him with sticks. Since then, each year before Holi, Lathmar Holi is celebrated.
