Water scarcity reduces ‘rain dance’ installations
The streets of Hubballi got soaked in myriad colours on the occasion of ‘Ranga Panchami’ (celebrated on the fifth day of Holi festival) on Thursday as thousands came out to celebrate the festival.
For the revellers, restrictions on traffic movement, barricades and heavy deployment of police and Rapid Action Force personnel during the celebrations — did not prove to be a deterrent. And they moved from one locality to another boisterously greeting everyone and spraying and smearing colours on other revellers.
Children armed with “pichkaris”, water guns and water balloons were a common sight, while young girls waiting on balconies and rooftops splashed colour on passersby. Young girls’ groups and couples on two-wheelers too moved from one locality to another greeting their acquaintances.
Muslims too took part in the celebrations and welcomed the processions of idols taken out as part of Holi and garlanded the leaders.
Dry
The festival was more a ‘dry’ event this time with powdered colours gaining upperhand and ‘rain dance installations’ getting reduced thanks to the water crisis in the twin cities. Many of the Kamanna pandals thought it wise to drop the ‘rain dance’ due to scarcity of water, but that didn’t dampen the celebrations.
May be due to the impact of ‘Hubballi Halagi Habba’ aimed at reviving the traditional way of celebrating the festival, more folk troupes found space in the celebrations this time. Troupes of traditional percussion instruments, ‘jaggalige’, ‘halage’ and ‘tamate’ made the revellers dance with their thumping music beats.
Police Commissioner Pandurang Rane, who kept moving from one locality to another to oversee bandobast, also joined the celebrations with a few senior officials and exchanged greetings with leaders.
