Over 700 participate in Gudi Padwa celebration at Goregaon

The celebration of the festival of Gudi Padwa or the New Year witnessed a massive rally of around 700 people on Tuesday morning at Gokuldham area at Goregaon (east). People between the age group of six years to 45 years performed with various traditional musical instruments like Dhol, Tasha, banjo, drums, cymbals and presented unique acts of the folk dance form Lezim.

The festival which marks the beginning of the New Year for the people of Maharashtra also displayed attendees dressed in their traditional outfits. A unique factor which set this rally apart was a group of around 25 girls who performed the dance form of Lezim by rolling on the streets in the scorching heat. One of the performer said, “We practised for over two to three weeks and wanted to try out a different form of act in the traditional Lezim dance. It was a bit challenging as the heat was too much.”

The rally which continued for six hours witnessed other cultural activities like calligraphy, wall painting and rangoli powder painting. The rally was organised by residents of Goregaon with the cost of Rs 50,000 and was not backed by any political party. Kaustubh Salunkhe, a senior organiser, said, “The event was organised by local citizens thus we did not involve any political party. Our sole aim was to keep the culture and tradition of our state alive.”