Exploding with color and joyful celebration, India’s Holi festival ushers in the arrival of spring. This vibrant Hindu holiday invites participants to play, dance, feast and gather together in a jubilant spirit of community.
Play with Color
The central activity of Holi is the carnival-like throwing and smearing of brightly colored powders and water on family, friends and strangers alike. Vivid clouds of gulal (powder) in rainbow hues fill the air, creating a magical technicolor dreamscape. People laugh and dance while drenching each other in color. For one day’s revelry, the rules are relaxed and inhibitions lowered to bond and spread cheer. Days later, traces of color remain in hair and on skin as souvenirs. Crowds gather in parks and streets to fling colored powder from folders called lathmar holi. Syringes and water guns up the ante during wet variations like Rangpanchami in Maharashtra. In Mathura and Vrindavan, the birthplace of Krishna, festivities last nearly a week. In Braj, colors tossed from tractors in the Lathmar Holi are a highlight. The day offers a free pass to forget routine and just play.
Mythology and Bonfires
The legends of Holi draw from Hindu mythology, commemorating events like the destruction of the demoness Holika. Large bonfires the night before Holi represent victory over evil spirits. Participants circle the fire, chanting prayer and throwing offerings for good fortune. In Northern India, these glowing pyres are called Holika Dahan. The next day is Rangwali Holi when colors are thrown. Intimate rituals around community bonfires help set the festive mood. Holika Dahan also marks the end of winter. People gather around crackling fires, singing folk songs and dancing the night away. The fire’s burning symbolizes destroying negativity and starting fresh for spring. Pride flags and effigies are also thrown into the growing flames. Smoke billows while embers rise into the night sky over the energetic crowds.
Festive Food and Drink
Holi wouldn’t be complete without traditional nibbles and beverages. Sweet and spicy gujia pastries stuffed with coconut and fruit jams offer the perfect snack. Refreshing drinks like thandai, made from almonds, rose petals and spices, cool you down. Bhang, a cannabis drink, adds an intoxicating element for adults. Vendors line the streets selling special festival treats. With music, dancing and feasting, the celebratory atmosphere brings people together. Favorite Holi goodies include Punjabi samosas, nimbu pani lemonade, and gulgule dough balls soaked in syrup. In Mathura, massive tents host people making mountains of malpuas, pancakes dripping in sugar syrup that will fuel the celebrations. Don’t miss out on the mangoes – the first of the season. End your feasting with desserts like kheer rice pudding or fusion ice cream flavors from India’s colonial past like matcha, rose or litchi.
A fabulous free-for-all of color and camaraderie, Holi’s vibrant practices reflect themes of renewal, optimism and equality that resonate long after the last rainbow tinted cloud drifts away.
