Kurnool: Village Men dress up as women to celebrate Holi

Kurnool: The Holi, the festival of colours, has been celebrated in a different manner at Santhekudlur village in Adoni mandal on Friday. In the festival celebrated for a week, the males will appear in female robes.

They wear saree or Punjabi dress besides bangles, jewellrey, flowers and others. After decorating like a woman, the males along with other family members, would visit Rathi Manmadha temple to offer prayers. After offering prayers, they will present silk robes to Rathi Manmadha as part of the festival.

It is believed that Lord Manmadha would bless them with peace and prosperity and all their desires would be fulfilled, said N Jagadeesh, a commission agent. Jagadeesh said that he has been following the tradition for last 15 years. Another person said that this is the first time he was participating in the festival. During every Holi festival all males would dress up in female robes and would visit the Rathi Manmadha temple amid playing of music. Almost all villagers in the mandal would celebrate the festival in this manner, stated the person. As the village Santhekudlur is located on the border of Karnataka state, a large number of people would throng the village to enjoy the colourful event. The actual event would be celebrated on Saturday.