Bhubaneshwar plays organic, colourless Holi amid Coronavirus scare

Amidst the Holi celebrations and festivities, people in Odisha's Bhubaneshwar have gone all organic to enjoy the festival of colours. Replacing chemical colours, people have played Holi with turmeric, sandalwood powder, and flowers in the State. 

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A girl told ANI, "Instead of playing Holi with colours, we have decided to celebrate the festival with flowers and turmeric powder this year."

Amid the festive vibes, the outbreak of Coronavirus was a cause of concern. Other locals asserted that going organic would protect people from coronavirus. 

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Another person who took part in the celebration emphasised on the tradition of playing Holi every year. He said, "Despite Coronavirus scare, we want to keep our tradition alive. We have restricted use of colours and replaced them with flowers and sandalwood powders."

Coronavirus scare:  

Amidst the scare of the deadly virus in the country, the number of confirmed cases in India has reached 56. However, there has been no case of death reported so far. 

The novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has claimed more than 4,000 lives around the world since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country where the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease. 

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Festival of colours: 

Holi is one of the highly anticipated festivals that everyone looks forward to. Be it the kids or elderly, all look forward to celebrating the festival of colours. Considered to be one of the biggest festivals after Diwali. 

One of the major festivals of India, Holi is celebrated with enthusiasm and gaiety on the full moon day in the month of Phalgun which is the month of March as per the Gregorian calendar. Holi festival is celebrated with various names and people of different states follow different traditions. But, what makes Holi so unique and special is the spirit of it which remains the same throughout the country and even across the globe, wherever it is celebrated. 

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(with inputs from ANI)