Almora:
An essential meeting of the Mahila Kalyan Sanstha was held to review and finalize preparations for the Women’s Holi Festival. In the meeting, it was unanimously decided that due to certain unavoidable reasons, the festival schedule would undergo a partial change this year. Accordingly, the Women’s Holi Festival will now be organized on 25th and 26th February at Malla Mahal.
It was informed that on 25th February, women’s teams from various localities of Almora city will participate at Malla Mahal starting from 11:00 AM. From this round, the teams securing first, second, third, and fourth positions will qualify to participate jointly with women’s teams arriving from outside the city on 26th February. The objective of conducting the event in phases is to provide a platform to a larger number of participants.
As in previous years, each team will consist of 10 women, and a time limit of 15 minutes will be allotted to every team for their performance. During this time, teams will present Holi songs, dances, and folk skits (swang). The organizers clarified that participation in the procession (juloos) will be mandatory for all teams to maintain the cultural dignity and collective spirit of the event.
A special feature of this year’s Holi Festival will be the presentation of Holi traditions from different states of the country along with Kumaoni Holi. The procession will showcase traditions such as Lathmar Holi of Mathura-Vrindavan, Bengali Holi, Rajasthani Holi, Punjabi Holi, and other regional folk traditions. Additionally, Jaunsari Holi of Kumaon will be a special attraction this year and will be presented in a distinctive manner for the audience.
The organizers stated that the Women’s Holi Festival is not merely a cultural program, but a symbol of women’s participation, preservation of folk culture, and social unity. Various responsibilities were also assigned to ensure that the event is conducted in a grand and disciplined manner.
The meeting was chaired by the organization’s President Rita Durgapal, while the proceedings were jointly conducted by Patron Meeta Upadhyay and Secretary Pushpa Sati. Members present in the meeting included Mamta Chauhan, Chandra Agarwal, Asha Pant, Anita Rawat, Deepa Satish Joshi, Geeta Shah, Radhika Joshi, Rama Joshi, Deepa Joshi, Sarla Bisht, Aditi Agarwal Pandey, along with other members.
At the conclusion of the meeting, all members collectively pledged their full cooperation and active participation to ensure the grand success of the Women’s Holi Festival.
