Visva-Bharati University to organise 'Basant Bandana' ahead of Holi without participation of outsiders

KOLKATA : Visva-Bharati University will organise 'Basant Bandana' (worship of spring) on March 3, four days ahead of Holi, and prevent outsiders from participating in it to avoid any chaotic situation, Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty said on Wednesday. The central university used to organise 'Basant Utsav' (spring festival) on the day of Holi but the practice was stopped in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. A chaotic situation was witnessed as thousands of people had descended to Santiniketan during the event in 2019.

Processions will be taken out during 'Basant Bandana' and participants will celebrate the event by applying 'abir' or 'gulaal' on each other, he said. "We have been forced to suspend Basant Utsav which has been increasingly becoming chaotic over the years. It was high time we put a lid on such 'tandav' (rampage)," the VC said. He claimed 'Basant Bandana' was in vogue since the time of Rabindranath Tagore, who founded the university, but it had degenerated over the years. Poush Mela, another crowd-puller event organised on the university campus, was also suspended. It was last held in 2019.