Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): Just as the queen moon emerges in the horizon, heralding the Holi festival, Freeganj area of Mandi in Sehore reverberates with traditional Bundeli Fag songs and drumbeats. Holi may have lost his sheen with the passage of time, yet there are people who celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm.
The people of Suryawanshi-Ahirwar society, who live in Freeganj at Mandi, celebrate the festival singing folk songs, sprinkling colours on one another. This is how they are maintaining the Bundelkhan’s tradition. Those who sing Holi songs have begun to sit at Chaupals and it will continue till Rang Panchami.
A folk artiste Sarju Prasad says the festival begins when the first pole is installed. The folk artistes begin to sit at Chaupals and sing songs, and the festival continues for five days, Prasad said. The small groups of men and women, formed on the occasion of the festival, include those who have lost their near and dear ones in the celebrations.
Afterwards, Bhai Duj is celebrated and the festival ends on the day of Rang Panchami. Most of the people living in the Mandi area have come from the Bundelkhand region of the state. Playing drums and other musical instruments and singing Holi songs is his family tradition, Prasad said.
Once the festival started one month before the main festival and people used to meet a Chaupals to sing songs. The situation has changed, because the youths are not getting associated with this kind of celebration, he said, adding that he is making efforts to teach the youths to sing Holi songs.
