‘Phalahaar party’, performance by Kailash Kher: Here’s how Delhi govt has planned to celebrate Hindu festivals
A BJP leader said, “No government has celebrated Hindu festivals on such a big scale earlier in Delhi. The BJP government is going to host a series of events from March 30 to April 14. It will be like a Hindu festival week and will be celebrated every year.”
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The Art & Culture Dept, which comes under Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra, will organise the celebrationsCome March 30, the Delhi government’s Art and Culture Department, which comes under Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra, plans to kick off a nearly fortnight-long celebration that begins with a huge event to mark the ‘Hindu Nav Varsh’ and concludes on Baisakhi. A first-of-its-kind ‘Phalahaar party’ will also be held during Navratri, said officials.
This will be the first time that Hindu New Year is being celebrated on such a large scale in the Capital, said officials. “The Delhi government is going to celebrate ‘Hindu Nav Varsh’ for the first time. A grand ceremony is being planned. The event will be hosted at the Delhi Assembly… the entire building decorated with lights, like it’s done on Diwali,” said a senior government official.
Singer Kailash Kher and his band will perform at the event, and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta, Delhi ministers, and senior BJP leaders will be among the attendees, said sources. “The government now plans to celebrate it every year,” the official added.
A BJP leader said, “No government has celebrated Hindu festivals on such a big scale earlier in Delhi. The BJP government is going to host a series of events from March 30 to April 14. It will be like a Hindu festival week and will be celebrated every year.”
The leader added, “The previous (AAP) government only celebrated Iftar and Islamic festivals. Why not Navratri, Hindu New Year, or other Hindu festivals?”
The Art and Culture Department is going to organise a series of four to five major events to celebrate festivals like Hanuman Jayanti, Baisakhi, and Navratri, officials said.
Officials added that Minister Kapil Mishra will officially announce details of the events on Thursday. “Just like Iftar, we will organise a ‘Phalahaar party’ for those fasting (during Navratri),” said an official.
Iftar parties were organised by the Delhi government earlier with the Urdu Academy but this will be the first time when the government is going to hold a ‘Phalahaar party’, as per sources in the government. The Delhi government has not hosted an Iftar gathering so far this year.
Chaitra Navratri, a 9-day festival dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga, is celebrated in March and April. This year, Navratri starts on March 30. According to the Hindu calendar, the start of the Chaitra Navratri marks the New Year.
“The ‘Phalahaar party’ will be held in the evenings with fruits where people can offer prayers and break their fast. It will be a three-day event to be organised on Saptami, Ashtami, and Navami (seventh, eighth, and ninth day of the festival of Navratri),” said a government official.
After that, the government will hold a major event to
celebrate ‘Ram Navami’ and ‘Hanuman Jayanti’. “Both days will be celebrated on a big scale. A stadium, most probably Thyagraj Stadium, will be booked where priests from temples of Delhi will be invited and a big puja is also on the cards…,” said the official.
Further, the BJP government will also organise a Kanya Pujan, likely on Ashtami or Navami, when young girls are worshipped to honour Goddess Durga’s nine forms. “During Kanya Pujan, the government plans to feed girl children from poor families,” the official said.
The government is also planning to celebrate Dr Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 on a big scale, and “events will be organised by Art and Culture, Social Welfare, Law, and all other departments.”
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