Dol-Purnima

In Bengal and Odisha, Dol Purnima is a major festival. This festival is dedicated to Sri Krishna. On this auspicious day, an image of Krishna, richly adorned and besmeared with colored powder, is taken out in procession, in a swinging palanquin, decorated with flowers, leaves, colored clothes and papers. The procession proceeds forward to the accompaniment of music, blaring of conch shells, trumpets and shouts of ‘Jai’ (victory). Dol Purnima becomes all the more significant for Bengalis, because this is also the birthday of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1485–1533). He was a great Vaishnava saint, who popularized modern sankirtana. He elevated the passion of Radha and Krishna to a high spiritual plane.