No colourful revelry in two areas of Hubballi this year

Caption: Temple committees of Unkal and Gopanakoppa have distributed pamphlets and displayed banners instructing residents of both villages not to revell colour this yearHubballi: Two major areas—Unkal and Gopanakoppa—in Hubballi will not be enveloped in colours during this year's Holi festival. Instead, they will be involved in painting idols of goddesses Dyamavva and Durgamma and installing them between March 12 and 17 in Unkal. Rajanna Koravi, a corporator from Unkal, told TOI that there is a belief that whenever the statues of Dymavvadevi and Durgadevi get repainted, villagers should not revel in colour.Hanumantappa Suryavanshi, 63, an elder in Durgada Oni, Unkal, said that 21 members of Sri Dyamavvadevi and Sri Durgadevi Trust Committee decided to repaint statues of the goddesses. "This is the 4th time in my life that I am witnessing repainting of statues. There is no particular period fixed for this repainting. Whenever devotees feel the statues are faded, epainting is done. However, apart from repainting, the temple is also getting renovated this time. This is an oral rule and tradition passed through our elders, and we pass it to our next generation. We have distributed pamphlets, displayed banners, and even made announcements. We have also requested police not to allow Holi revelry in Unkal village limits, which includes Lingaraj Nagar, Mahalaxmi Layout, Rajeev Nagar, Taj Nagar, Sainagar, Kaveri Colony, Nrupatunga Nagar, and many other layouts. We ususally celebrate Holi here on the next day of Holi Hunnime," he explained.Ishwargouda Patil, an elder in Gopanakoppa, said that Dyamavva is the village deity of Gopanakoppa, and the temple is located in Badiger Oni. "The statue was repainted in 2013. As per our elders' saying, we will not play Holi whenever the statue is being painted. This repainting work is to be completed before Ugadi. We will make announcements from Monday. We have already distributed pamphlets and displayed banners. Since the village involves about 15-20 layouts such as Manoj Estate, Saptagiri, Santosh Nagar, JK School, etc, we are putting all efforts to sensitise residents of the village," he stated.With this, almost 40% of Hubballi city is expected to remain away from revelry during Holi celebrations. When asked about youths revelling in colour in other areas, both Suryavanshi and Patil said that since it involves the village deity, no resident will be involved in playing with colours.