Kathmandu, March 2: Phagu Poornima or Holi festival is being celebrated with much fanfare in the mountain and hilly districts today. This festival is celebrated every year on the full moon day of the month of Fagun in the Lunar Calendar.
The Holi festival is being celebrated as an ancient tradition which brings a message of mutual harmony and goodwill with the arrival of spring. People smear colours and splash coloured water to one another in course of celebrating this festival. People gather around the major thoroughfares dancing and singing.
As per legend, the festival is also celebrated as a victory of truth over falsehood, with people of all ages, caste and creed joining the celebration.
The government has been giving a public holiday on the occasion of the Phagu festival. In the Tarai region, this festival is celebrated on the day after the full moon. This year too, Holi is being celebrated in the Tarai on Tuesday. The government has given a public holiday on Tuesday in the Tarai districts.
Meanwhile, President Ramchandra Paudel has wished that may the festival of Holi festival provide further inspiration to eradicate various types of distortions, anomalies and evil customs existing in the society, to protect and promote the indigenous culture and to maintain mutual harmony in the country.
President Paudel said that the Holi festival, which is celebrated with joy and happiness to celebrate the victory of truth over falsehood, justice over injustice, virtue over vice, and religion over unrighteousness, has a tradition of renouncing enmity and expressing goodwill and having fun with relatives and friends by applying colors and paints to each other with love and intimacy.
Vice-president Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, National Assembly Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal, former President Bidya Devi Bhandari, former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, and other leaders have, in separate statements, also extended their best wishes to all those celebrating the festival today and tomorrow.
