Varanasi: It's not exactly a riot of colours in Varanasi, but the Holi celebrations are still on -- on a muted tone though.
People danced and sang their way to the ghats early morning on Wednesday to offer prayers and play Holi.
The city known for its rich musical tradition was on a high note as groups of people hit the streets singing and playing dholak and tabla.
The city was rocked by bomb blasts last week, but that as you can see, has not dampened the spirits.
Throngs of youths arrived on the ghats of river Ganga and had themselves drenched in colours. The temples, however, observed the festival on a muted note.
The Sankatmochan Temple, which was one of the targets of the recent blasts, used to be one of the central points of Holi celebrations over the years. And the scars of terror are yet to go away.
Yet, Varanasi showed much resilience and spirit to bounce back from that episode and get drenched in a sea of colours. The festivities began on a sombre note in the morning but picked up as the day progressed.
The shops selling bhang and gulal were all crowded and families were out on the street in multiple hues of colours. A morning shower, however, dampened the celebration to some extent.
In the backdrop of the blasts, elaborate security arrangements have been made throughout Uttar Pradesh for the Holi festival with security personnel being deployed in strength at all sensitive places.
Special security arrangments have been made in Varanasi, Lucknow, Faizabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and other places.
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