LUCKNOW: The Holi celebrations at ‘Dewa Sharif’, the dargah of 18th century Sufi saint, Haji Waris Ali Shah, in Dewa town of Barabanki are unique in many ways as both Hindus and Muslims celebrate the festival of colours in harmony and play with rose petals, other flowers, ‘abeer’ and ‘gulal’ .
The Sufi saint is revered as a harbinger of peace and amity as he spread his message of ‘Jo Rab hai wahi Ram hai.’
“The Holi here is special and perhaps it is the only Dargah where the festival is celebrated with fervour inside the campus, if not inside the tomb,” said Saad Mahmood, manager of the tomb of Haji Waris Ali Shah, popularly known as Dewa Sharif.
“It is not recorded as to when this tradition started here, but it should be over a century old. It has been flourishing, especially over the last couple of years as a huge crowd of people gathers to celebrate the colourful festival at Baba’s (Haji Waris Ali Shah) door,” he added.
Shehzade Alam (60), who is the elected chairperson of the Holi committee in Dewa town, has also seen the ritual exhibiting communal harmony ever since he was a child.
He is the first Muslim to head the committee, while there have been Muslim members on it previously.
“The Holi Juloos (procession) commences in the morning from the Qaumi Ekta Dwar in Dewa with flowers. It circles the town and then reaches the tomb at around noon. By this time, the crowd reaches its zenith and Holi is played with rose petals, gulaal and abeer,” said Warsi.
“This year, we will try to culminate the event by Juma namaz time which is around 1 pm,” said Warsi.
