Mathura (UP), Apr 6 (PTI) The Phool Bangla festival at Mathura’s Banke Bihari temple will start from April 8 and conclude on July 24, a temple official said on Sunday.
He said the 108-day festival will start from Ekadasi of the Chaitra month and continue till the Amavasya of Savan month.
Tight security arrangements are already in place outside the temple under the supervision of a magistrate, said Mathura District Magistrate Chandra Prakash Singh.
According to Rajbhog Sevaadhikari Gyanendra Kishore Goswami, the Phool Bangla festival involves decorating the temple with flowers primarily “to give the deity some relief from scorching heat”.
“The temple is decorated with thousands of fragrant and decorative flowers to give the deity relief from hot weather. Bela, mogra, rose, chameli, carnation, marigold, lily, lotus and orchids are primarily used, along with other flowers. These flowers are sourced from local vendors as well as from Ajmer, Kanpur and Kannauj. Aromatic flowers are being brought from Delhi. Rose and mogra are Banke Bihari’s favourite flowers,” he said.
Goswami said earlier the floral offering to the main deity was allowed only in the evenings. But following a Supreme Court order in July 2016, pilgrims were allowed during the morning hours as well.
Talking about the tradition of the festival, he said Paramhans Goswami started it by using vetiver khus curtains and flowers to relieve Thakur Banke Bihari from heat.
“Only diyas (earthen lamps) were used inside the temple then. The heat from these lamps and temple stones made things worse. The flower decoration was started to make things better,” he explained, adding that since then, the temple has been decorated with flowers twice everyday.
“Mango, banana, litchi and thandai are included in the prasad offered to the deity during the festival to ease him from the heat,” Goswami said.
The flowers used in decoration are sent to Ashray Sadan, a home for widows where they are segregated and processed to make incense sticks, he added. PTI COR NAV RUK RUK
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