Halloween rush in temple town

ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
Bhubaneswar: Capital city which was agog with activities like Diwali and Dusshera in recent times was reenergised with Halloween festival Tuesday at “the spookiest time of the year”. Halloween, known as Allhalloween or All Saints’ Eve is celebrated across the globe on the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day (October 31). The celebrations of the day, dedicated to the dead, including saints, martyrs and faithful souls, originated with the Celtic festival of Samhain, when people make bonfire toward off ghosts.

Wearing traditional Halloween outfits with scary looks the revelers gather at eateries and cafes to celebrate the occasion. The hotels in the city were designed in Halloween theme displaying pictures of witches and some figures with pumpkin as masks with holes for the eyes.

Hotels hosted events for children organising contests in fancy dresses. “We’ve asked everyone to put on costumes to meet the occasion and advised all to wear masks or paint on their faces. We announced prizes for the best-attired couple and individuals. Those who didn’t wish to wear frightening dress could simply come with black attire. We provided them glow bands and headgears to suit the fest,” said RK Verma of The Café which organised a party. There were special dishes and drinks named Ghost Crub, Dark Knight, Blood Bite, Blood Mary, Green Gobli and Lambsteak to name a few.

The Halloween is popular in the USA where the President himself celebrates at the White House. In the Indian metros, the participants wear costumes of all hues, narrate horror stories to frighten each other and even watch horror movies together. “The whole idea gave me Goosebumps. I decided to do something extraordinary here,” said Anubhav Mohanty at a café in Patia. Sandip Kumar of Church of Christ said, “I thought human life is so short and it has become so much stressful these days that I wanted to enjoy it in a different way.’’ ‘‘Since the celebration is aimed at warding off the evil influence of Halloween, people join together to celebrate the heroic deeds of Christian saints of yore,’’ says Father Prasan Kumar Pradhan. “It’s a kind of hiding our face from the evil. We should unabashedly and boldly create an ambience that is positive and uplifting. It is a celebration of good over evil and the triumph of God over Satan,’’ he adds