Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit to the town of Barsana in Mathura district on Saturday, the region is receiving a coat of Saffron. Yogi is expected to participate at the Lathmar Holi program in Barsana from 12 to 5 PM on Saturday, following which he will address a public meeting.
Yogi is expected to reach Mathura on Friday evening and would then proceed to inaugurate the Holi celebrations at Barsana and Nandgaon. Here he is supposed to walk about 500 meters to the Rani Mahal where Gopis used to play Holi with Lord Krishna. He is also expected to participate in a Yamuna Aarti later in the day.
With Yogi also scheduled to participate in this event, the Nagar Panchayat has left no stones unturned and apart from cleaning the city has also embarked upon a “saffronisation” of the building and walls.
Apart from being given a coat of Saffron, Barsana has seen its Priya Kund (water tank) getting filled with water. The road from Priya Kund to Sriji temple has also been repaired.
Lathmar Holi is a age old tradition mainly followed in towns of Barsana and Nandgaon near Mathura based on the tale of Lord Krishna. It is said that Lord Krishna who hailed from Nandgaon, visited Radha who lived in Barsana. Here he is believed to have teased Radha and her friends who took offence and drove him out of Barsana.
Thus every year a few days before Holi, this scene is recreated with men from Nandgaon visiting Barsana, where women are ready with sticks waiting for them. They then proceed to hurl sticks on them and those unable to escape are forced to wear a dress and dance. The festival of Lathmar Holi goes on for 40 days.
As per local reports, the areas visible from Yogi’s meeting centre, the Rangili Gali and all those landmarks which will be visited by Yogi are being coated in saffron. It is the first time Barsana’s streets are witnessing a paint job ahead of Holi.
Here are some of the pictures shared by media websites:
Incidentally, such a saffronisation was also noticed in Lucknow, where the walls of state Haj office received an overnight coat saffron, which was then subsequently repainted. As a result of this, the Yogi government removed the incumbent Haj Committee secretary, following a notice over how were the walls painted saffron and why were they repainted.