Ranchi, April 11: It was one big party on the Main Road today as people gathered in large numbers to celebrate Sarhul.

The main procession began from the Hatma Basti and passed through Kutchery Road, Shaheed Chowk, Albert Ekka Chowk and Main Road to reach Chutia. Revellers, consisting mainly of young men and women, danced to the tunes of popular folk songs in groups and applied gulal on each other as a mark of love.

Chief minister Arjun Munda failed to participate in any of the Sarhul functions today. The function at the tribal languages department is usually attended by the chief minister every year. But sources said the organisers did not invite Arjun Munda this time as last year he came very late at the function.

The chief minister?s office, however, claimed that Munda was to leave for Dhanbad in the morning and so there was no way he could have attended the function.

They also said because of the death of senior RSS functionary Shrishankar Tiwari, the chief minister?s programme had to be changed. He did not have any scheduled engagements today as he was not supposed to be in Ranchi, an official said.

The procession that began at 3 pm, was slow initially, but picked up momentum later. By 5 pm, the Main Road was jam-packed. While some samitis had arranged traditional instruments to play on the occasion, some preferred playing modern folk songs on high voltage music systems.

Members of different social and political organisations had put up their own stalls to welcome the revellers all along the route, especially near the Albert Ekka Chowk.

While some had arranged sherbet for the revellers, others were seen distributing chana or plain cold water. Small-time vendors of golgapas, chat, lassi and bhunja and other snacks made some good business. Ramesh Minz, a reveller who had come from Dariapur, said Sarhul means a lot to him. ?It is important for me and my entire family. We wait the whole year for the festival,? he said.

However, Dev Kumar Dhan, former Mandar MLA, who also participated in the procession, said the festival has become a competition in which one tries to show off rather than worshipping nature. The Chadri Sarna Samiti members wore black badges protesting against the Ranchi district administration?s decision to build an electric crematorium on ?Masna? land (graveyard) which they claimed was theirs.