As the entire country is preparing to celebrate Holi, the Koli community of Mumbai has been celebrating the festival for the last 15 days following their age-old traditions. The Kolis of Khar Danda celebrated holika dahan on Friday, two days before the actual festival, according to their customs dating back to the British Raj, whereas the Kolis in the rest of Mumbai will celebrate the festival on Sunday.
Holi for the Koli community
Like all the indigenous tribes of the country, the festival of Holi is of great significance for the Koli community of Maharashtra which is celebrated for 15 days starting from the next day of Mahashivratri. The community believes that Holi is closely related to fishing as the sea experiences the highest tide after the Holi purnima. The Kolis offer the ash produced from the holika dahan to the sea with a belief that it calms the sea and helps them get a good catch in the fishing season.
The Kolis celebrate Holi to worship fire by burning branches of castor, mango and jamun trees before lighting up the holika. In some of the Koli localities in Worli, Colaba and Vasai, the festival is celebrated by burning branches of areca nut trees. The community worships their boats on the next day of holika dahan by decorating it and draping a saree around it as well as offering fish and country-made liquor to their boats.
Their holi celebrations
The Holi celebrations of the Kolis residing in Varni Pada area in Khar Danda is slightly different from the rest of the community since they perform the holika dahan two days before the actual day of the festival. The reason behind this lies back to the times of British Raj when one year the community was lacking wood to ignite the fire and had to steal the logs placed on a well to draw water.
Bhagwan Dandekar, a resident of Khar Danda, said, "After a complaint was filed, the local administrator issued a punishment to the community members by decreasing their celebration period by two days. After independence, the community decided to continue this tradition started by their ancestors. Even today, the rest of the areas in Khar Danda celebrate holi for 15 days.”
Other than Khar Danda, the Koli community in Worli celebrated the festival on Saturday by carrying out a grand procession. Women from the community carry earthen pots on their heads in their traditional attire and join the procession. The Kolis of all other areas including Mahim, Versova and Colaba will celebrate it on Sunday with the rest of the Hindu communities.
Mohit Ramle, city president of Akhil Koli Samaaj Va Sanskruti Samvardhan Sangh, said, "Along with cultural and religious significance, holi is a festival to enjoy our hearts out. Once the fishermen sail off the coast for fishing, they don’t know whether they will return to the family, therefore this festival, which is before the fishing period starts, is celebrated with great zeal by the community."
