Lathmar Holi celebrated with fanfare in Mathura’s Barsana

Mathura (UP): The famed ‘lathmar’ holi of Mathura began here on Monday with much fanfare and no case of injuries among men, who get a ritual beating by the women during its course.

According to District Magistrate Shailendra Singh, the lathmar holi was celebrated in Mathura’s Barsana under heavy security and ambulances on standby to tend to the wounded.

“No untoward incident took place in spite of the presence of several lakh of pilgrims,” the DM said.

Dr Manoj Vashishtha, the in-charge of a local community health centre, said nobody came to the centre for treatment after the festival.

Ritually, men from Nandgaon try to drench the Barsana women, who then reciprocate by attacking the men with sticks, Goswami, one of the revellers, said.

The entire ‘mela’ area has been divided into five zones and 12 sectors for the week-long celebration, which will culminate with Holi on March 25, officials said.

In order to avoid traffic congestion, 78 barriers and 45 parking slots were set up in Barsana.

Twenty-nine barriers and 12 parking areas were set up in Nandgaon.

Four watchtowers in Barsana and two in Nandgaon were set up to ensure proper movement of traffic, officials said.

The administration had deployed 150 buses to ferry people to Nandgaon or Barsana for the festival.

To prevent drowning, the administration had also barricaded four ponds in Barsana and one in Nandgaon.

According to officials, 12 temporary mini-hospitals, equipped with 13 ambulances, for Barsana and four ambulances for Nandgaon were kept on standby.