The Mashaan Holi is played with colour mixed with ash from dead bodies that were cremated at the cremation grounds of Varanasi!

'Khele Mashane mein Holi Digamber, khele mashane mein Holi (Lord Shiva playing Holi at cremation place....)," the famous song of noted vocalist Pt Chhannulal Mishra came alive at Manikarnika Ghat on Monday when scores of people celebrated Holi with 'chita bhasma' (ash from pyres) and red gulal amid the burning pyres. It happens only in Banaras, where death is not something to fear about and dying here means attaining 'moksha' (salvation).

Traditionally at Manikarnika Ghat, the 'mahashmashan' where Hindus cremate their dead, local people play Holi with ash on the next day of Rangbhari Ekadashi, a Banarasi tradition that is believed as old as the Ganga itself. For an outsider, it may be an unusual to see people throwing pyre ash at each other and smearing it on face and body at the cremation ghat, but for locals there is nothing surprising in the tradition.

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