Around 8,000 people from multiple religions gathered at the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir in Karachi this week, smearing each other with paint and dancing to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors which heralds the beginning of spring and commemorates the triumph of good over evil.
Holi, which is celebrated on a full-moon day of spring in the Phalguna month of the Hindu calendar (February-March), is being marked this year today, Wednesday (March 8).
Pakistan’s Hindus, which number around four million in a country of over 220 million people, are primarily concentrated in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital. Hindu festivals like Diwali and Holi are commemorated by Muslims and people of other faiths also, who partake in the festivities and rituals.
“People of all faiths and religions are celebrating Holi here with us,” the caretaker of the Mandir, Shri Ram Nath Maharaj, told Arab News on Tuesday evening as the celebrations at the temple unfolded all around him.
“We, under the flag of Pakistan, celebrate Holi, Diwali, Eid, Easter, and Christmas with the same zeal. We are all one.”
Maharaj, who is also the president of the World Hindu Federation’s (WHF) Pakistan chapter, said the provincial and city police as well as the paramilitary Rangers and Pakistan Army, had provided “great security” to the community to ensure Holi was celebrated in “the best of spirits.”
“Every year, Holi is celebrated with the same passion here at Hanuman Mandir and today, the crowd is huge, so much so that Holi is also being celebrated outside the Mandir as well,” Maharaj added.