Vrindavan, 2016. 08. 27 (VT)
: The ‘Pole Festival’, locally popular as the ‘Latthe ka Mela’ was celebrated at Rangji Mandir on Saturday, during the occasion of the ‘Nandotsava’. The Grand Temple of Rangnath has its own way of celebrating the festivals. This temple has its own calendar, and follows the rituals, being followed in most of the Temples in South India.
On Saturday, the temple celebrated the Nandotsava, the celebration of the Lord’s birth. To make the birthday celebration special, grand and joyful for the devotees, the sporting event of Latthe ka Mela was organized. People from all over the Vraja thronged in the field of outside the Western Gate of the temple, to witness the Pole riding completion,
Several wrestlers from the dusayat mohalla and other parts of Vrindavan participated in the competition. A wooden pole (lattha) was erected on the ground, on which the wrestlers were offered to climb. A vessel full of gifts containing copper, bronze, silver coins and the currency notes were placed on the top of the pole. The wrestlers needed to climb the pole and get the vessel. The first people who reached at the top would get the vessel along with gifts inside it.
The wrestlers made a pyramid to reach to the top of the pole and made attempts to climb on it. The sports began with traditional song of Vraja. Leader from Dusayat Akhada, Girdhar Singh started climbing the pole first followed by Sanjay Pahalwan, Suresh Pahalwan, Ratan Keshav, Amar Singh and others.
But the 40 feet pole was made slippery with oil before it was erected on the ground. A tall wooden platform was made on the side of the pole, at the same height. When the wrestlers tried to climb the pole, water mixed with oil, curd and turmeric was poured on it. The liquid being poured from the top made it difficult for the wrestlers to climb on the pole and grasp the vessel. The audience enjoyed the festival with humor while watching the wrestlers slipping on the pole even after reaching near the target.
When they found it very difficult to reach the top, they went to seek the blessings from Thakur Shri Ranganath, who arrived on the spot sitting on a silver chariot to witness the celebration. After taking the blessing 
of the Lord, finally a wrestler climbed on the pole and caught hold on the vessel full of gifts. After about half an hour, wrestler named Danvir succeeded in getting the kalash filled with coconut and other gifts. The gifts were distributed among his fellow wrestlers. At the end they took bath in the ‘kund’ situated inside the temple. The temple management gave reward to all the wrestlers.
Shri Rang ji Mandir, celebrates the festivals according to the positions of the stars or the Nakshatras. Shri Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated according to the position of the Rohini Nakshatra, and the Nandotsava is celebrated on the next day. Usually it falls one or two days after or before the ‘Janmashtami’, when the rest of the world celebrate Krishna’s birthday.
Temple manager Rajkumar Sud said that Latthe ka Mela is a traditional celebration at Rang Ji temple, which has been organized for the past 170 years.
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