New Delhi: Holi, the festival of colours was celebrated with traditional gaiety and fervour in parts of the country on March 18.

Rainbow of colours enveloped in several cities as people from all walks of life joined the celebrations distributing sweets and applied 'gulal' on each other.

In Mumbai, people thronged the beaches after bathing in a bout of colours, while in Thane and Ulhas Nagar satellite cities, it was celebrated with enthusiasm.

However, the celebrations was on a low key in Bollywood, which has in the past seen many film stars indulging in festivities with Raj Kapoor's R K Studios taking the lead.

Patrolling was stepped up in sensitive areas and security tightened all over the city in view of the celebrations. Over 30,000 police personnel were deployed in the metropolis.

People flocked the streets in large numbers with 'gulal', distributed sweets and exchanged greeting in Uttar Pradesh.

There were no reports of any untoward incident anywhere in the state.

The festival of colours was celebrated with fun and frolic in Gujarat after two years. Earthquake in 2001 and post-Godhra communal violence had marred the festivities in the previous years.

In Vadodara, which bore the brunt of communal clashes recently, the festival was celebrated with gaiety by people of different communities.

Meanwhile, over 5,000 people congregated at Santiniketan, the university town founded by Rabindranath Tagore, to celebrate 'Basantotsab', the festival of spring.

The programme began with the early morning 'baitalik' – a procession of hundreds of boys and girls dressed in saffron, who sang Rabindrasangeet and danced their way to the adjacent Visvabharati ground, where a colourful programme of dance, songs and reading from Tagore's texts was held.

After the function, university inmates and the visiting tourists greeted each other sprinkling 'gulal'.

Several state ministers including Subhas Chakraborty, Asok Bhattacharjee and Mohammed Selim were among the guests.

A large contingent of police was deployed in area to maintain law and order.

Tagore's dance drama 'Sapmochan' will be staged in the evening.

At the ISCKON's global headquarters at Mayapur, the day began with a special 'arati' at the main Chandrodaya temple, followed by a series of religious ceremonies and functions. A few thousand devotees, including nearly 2,000 from abroad, were present on the occasion.

The day was also celebrated at various Vaishnavite maths and 'akharas' across Nadia district.

Monks and devotees of the Ramakrishna Mission celebrated the day at the organisation's global headquarters, Belur Math, with 'kirtan-parikramas' and paying tributes to Sri Ramakrishna and deities with 'gulal'.

PTI