Daraganj residents to wage war with colours at ‘Damkal Yudh’
Residents here use old fire-fighting equipment to play Holi; tradition being passed on to new generation since decades
If the city’s Chowk area is famous for Kapda Faad Holi then Daraganj locality is ready with its ‘Damkal Yudh’.
The Holi here is unique as residents play with Damkal or firefighting equipment which were used by the British army to douse fire in the pre-Independence days. Thus, continuing with their century-old tradition, the residents here will play this special Holi on March 14 and 15.
Way back, some of the residents of Daraganj bought these unused equipment from the British army and passed it on to the younger generation so that tradition continues, shares Tirthraj Pandey, a Daraganj resident and president of Prayagraj Sewa Samiti which organises Holi in this traditional way.
“We call it Damkal Yudh. Several groups are formed which sprinkle colours on each other with this old handheld equipment. The water colours are filled in it and then sprayed on each other,” he explained.
Pandey said the tradition started when an elderly resident of Daraganj Pt Natesh Shastri bought some old firefighting equipment from British Army. He used them as a colour sprinkler. Soon, others also bought these obsolete equipment.
“Later, some of the residents prepared an exact model of this old firefighting equipment so that everyone could carry the same piece of sprinkler while playing Holi. Right now, at least 25-30 residents have this model,” he further shared.
Pandey said this year’s celebration would begin with the playing of pink colour Gulal at the ancient Veni Madhav temple. Thereafter, different groups would fight Damkal Yudh at different pre-selected sites like Baba Bhandar crossing followed by a site close to Jagannath Temple, then Nirala crossing before the final clash at Pandey crossing of Daraganj.
“This year we will have a satirical political slugfest of colours. The groups have been named after leading political figures of the country. Let’s see who would win the fight,” he added.
Pandey said they have also fixed the rules for this interesting war of colours. None of the groups would be allowed to use synthetic colours, kerosene oil, paint and any chemicals in the colours. They can use only organic and natural colours as has been our tradition. “If any of the person is found carrying these harmful colours during the Damkal Yudh, he would be disqualified,” he pointed out.
