Barpeta celebrates holi in a different way than rest of the country. The 'Dol Utsav' is almost like a carnival for 3 days in the historic Barpeta Satra established by Mahapurush Madhabdev in 16th century when Vaishnavism was on the rise in Assam. People of Barpeta and nearby areas get intoxicated in a festive mood, perform holi geets, celebrate & promote local cuisines, show their creativity through comic performances and processions. Traditional folk songs are spontaneously sung by groups of people sitting in the satra premises. The crowd is self regulating with no untoward incident or 'law and order' problem recorded. There are no rules on 'who' can apply colours on 'whom', if you are present inside the big campus of the satra, you are bound to be completely covered by colours (with due permission). Foreigners also visit this festival and capture the moments, media is stationed at the roofs of the buildings to get a proper view. Men, women, children and aged persons celebrate three days of festivities, while worshipping lord Krishna. The satradikars perform their rituals side by side while the town reveres them as they pass around the holy town. Nobody uses water to play holi inside the Satra and anyone using hard colours are cautioned by others. Children and youth come up with their own ideas of small processions based on themes, some mock the local assamese news channels for their political links while others copy social media trends like tiktok. It's an Indic carnival thay refuses to die even in the 21st century due to enthusiastic and humble residents of Barpeta town.
