Mathura, March 6 Hundreds of widows in Vrindavan will not play Holi this year in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Sulabh Foundation that has been working for the welfare of widows, said that it has been decided that the Holi celebrations will be put off.
"Holi celebrations lead to huge crowds and playing with water would make the widows, most of whom are old, susceptible to infection," the spokesman said.
This will be the second consecutive year when the widows will not play Holi.
Last year, the widows had not played Holi as a mark of respect to BJP leader, late Manohar Parrikar, who had passed away.
They had gathered at the historic Gopinath temple in Vrindavan on Monday to offer condolences and pay respect to the departed soul. The widows also held a prayer meeting at the temple where they lit candles and sang bhajans.
Vrindavan's Holi celebrations in recent years have become a memorable event for the thousands of widows who till recent past used to face humiliation.
In 2012, the Supreme Court expressed concern that the government and its agencies were not doing enough to mitigate the sufferings of the widows of Vrindavan and asked Sulabh International, an NGO, to take care of them.
( With inputs from IANS )