Meerut: All mosques on the Ram Baraat route in Bareilly and the Laat Saheb procession path in Shahjahanpur have been covered with tarpaulin and plastic sheets to prevent them from being smeared with Holi colours, which could affect communal harmony in the two Uttar Pradesh districts, officials said.
“We held a meeting with clerics in the district on Friday and they have been told that the mosques will be properly covered so that no mischievous element does anything to disturb communal harmony. All clerics expressed satisfaction with our arrangements. A posse of police personnel will accompany the yatra which, after passing through many areas in the city, will return to the Narsingh Temple,” the Senior Superintendent of Police (Bareilly) Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan said.
The proposed route of the Ram Baraat which will be taken out from the Narsingh Temple is organised by the Brahmpuri Ramlila Committee for years amid heavy police cover.
In Shahjahanpur, a Laat Saheb ki Baraat is taken out on Holi from the Phoolmati Devi Temple, which features a unique tradition, reportedly prevalent since the 18th century, in which revelers hurl footwear at the procession featuring a buffalo cart and a hapless man. The procession was earlier called the Nawab Saab ki Baraat and the person sitting on the cart was depicted as a Nawab, but post Independence, it is known as Laat Saheb ki Baraat in which the person on the cart is portrayed as a Britisher.
“The baraat is a unique tradition here and I have been witnessing it since childhood. The person who sits in the buffalo cart is chosen nearly a month ahead and is housed at a secret location for the period, during which he is well-fed. People viewing the procession from their houses hurl footwear at him from their balcony. Once the baraat ends, the person is given new clothes and money by the organisers,” a local told The Indian Express.
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