While the enthusiasm of Holi is spreading across the country, there is a ban on playing Holi in 125 villages of Uttarakhand. The people of this village are also afraid of touching the colors. The reason behind not celebrating Holi is quite miraculous. People say that playing Holi can bring natural disasters in their village. Not only this, in some villages, people are also afraid of wearing colorful clothes while worshiping.
Holi is not played in most parts of Kumaon region of Uttarakhand like other parts of the country. In more than 125 villages of this mountainous region of the north, people are preferring to stay away from this festival of colors due to the wrath of the gods of their ancestors. People do not celebrate Holi festival in more than 125 villages of Talla Darma, Talla Johar area of Pithoragarh district and Malla Danpur area of Bageshwar district. Puranik Pandey, a resident of Munsiyari region, said that he believes that his ancestors are angry when they play color.
The festival of Holi is a traditional Hindu festival that begins on the first Sunday of the month of Magh and runs till the Pratipada of the Krishna Paksha of Chaitra month. This Hindu traditional festival was brought to the Kumaon region by Chand Raja of Champawat in the 14th century. The kings started it through Brahmin priests and hence the festival spread to all the places where those priests had influence. Padam Dutt Pant, cultural historian of Eastern Kumaon region, has said that Holi is not celebrated in areas where traditional traditions have not reached.
There is a belief in a dozen villages of Sama Division that if the villagers play color, the ancestors get angry with them and the process of natural disasters starts. Not only in Kumaon region, but in three villages of Rudraprayag district of Garhwal district, ie Quili, Khurjhang and another village, Kuldevi Tripur Sundari, after starting a series of natural disasters in the village, never played Holi in this village in the last 150 years.
Not only Uttarakhand, but also in many tribal villages of Banaskantha region of Gujarat and Durgapur region of Jharkhand, Holi is not played due to the curse and anger of Pitra deity. Holi is not played in many villages who believe in the deity of Chula Kedar. Chitla Kedar is tickled not only with the colors of Holi but also with a romantic Holi song.
Devotees of the deity, located on a hill at an altitude of 3,700 meters, are not allowed to wear colored clothes during the worship of the deity and during the pilgrimage. During the puja, all the devotees including the priest only wear white clothes. Holi is still banned in this region due to the anger of Pitra deities, but traditional Hindu festivals like Diwali and Dussehra are now making a place in this remote area. A priest told that Ramlila has started in these villages and now Diwali is also being celebrated.
