Holi festivities in India end with clothes tearing tradition

STORY: At a closely packed Dauji Maharaj Temple, devotees drenched in colours marked the 'Kapda fad' (tearing clothes) Holi amid folk songs and celebrations.

The focus of celebrations is on Balrama, the elder brother of Hindu God Krishna. The legend has it on that day Krishna played Holi with Balrama's wife.

Celebrating an age-old tradition, men from neighbouring towns and villages come to the city and sing provocative songs to invite the attention of women. The women go on the offensive and tear clothes of men, use it as a whip to beat them up.

The Holi festivities were grand in most places as COVID-19 cases significantly subsided with less than 30,000 active cases throughout the country of 1.4 billion. India reported 1,761 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday (March 20), it has been reporting under 5,000 cases for over a month now.