Holi in India is known as the Festival of Colors and it is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. This Hindu festival takes place across India as revelers throw colored powder to celebrate the triumph over good and evil.
Nowhere is Holi celebrated with more spirit than Mathura, the birthplace of the Hindu God, Lord Krishna. We celebrated Holi here and this is what it was like.
Holi India – Festival of Colors
It was march in India and were traveling in Punjab at the time wondering we should celebrate Holi. That is when our friends Julian and Becca told us that one of the best places to celebrate Holi is in Mathura, India. So we hopped on a train and took the 12-hour journey to celebrate the Festival of Colors in the birthplace of Lord Krishna 600 km away. And I’m glad we did!
What is Holi Festival?
The celebration of Holi is a Hindu festival observed across India every year. It celebrates the arrival of spring and it signifies the triumph of good over evil. While it is a Hindu festival, most Indians observe Holi. The Festival of Colors is such a vibrant and festive occasion how can you not want to take part?
During the day of Holi in India, it doesn’t matter what your caste, creed, or religion is, on this day, the India people come together as one as they throw colored powder and water through the air. When everyone is covered with the colors of the rainbow, their skin, hair, and clothing look the same creating a feeling of inclusiveness.
When is Holi Celebrated in 2022?
In 2022 the Celebration of Holi takes place on March 18 and March 19.
The dates of Holi celebrations change every year because Holi is celebrated on the eve of the full moon and the full moon day of the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna (March). This day marks the beginning of Spring. But the celebrations have extended to several days beforehand. During our time at the Holi festival in India, the colored powder and water were being spread in full force four days in advance with music blaring and people dancing in the streets.
Holika Dahan
For several days leading up to the Holi festival, people gather wood to make large bonfires that are lit on the eve of Holi known as Holika Dahan. Holi Dahan happens every year on the evening of Purnima in the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna. (aka The full moon in March and night before Holi) Holika Dahan celebrates the death of the Hindu Demon, Holika, and the victory of good over evil.
In Hinduism, the demon Holika was the sister of the Demon King, Hiranyakashipu (Hiranyakashyap) who was given immunity to fire by the Gods. Hiranyakashipu asked Holika to kill his son Prahlada by burning him alive. He hated Prahlada because of his devotion to the Hindu God, Lord Vishnu and made several attempts to murder him. But Prahlada survived.
Since the Gods had given Holika immunity to fire, she tried to kill Prahalada by sitting in a fire with him trying to burn him to death. Instead, the Gods punished Holika for using her powers for evil. She burned to death instead while Prahalada lived to rule as a wise king.
During the evening of the Holika Dahan festival people gather to light the fires to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. The fires burn late into the night and people are out dancing and celebrating to the wee hours of the morning. The entire country of India is alive with energy.
Holi in Mathura
On the day of Holi, we wandered aimlessly through the streets of Mathura because we weren’t sure where we should start. There were crowds gathering along the sidewalks, but we weren’t quite sure where the epicenter of the festivities took place.
Luckily, we stumbled across a small courtyard where a man caught our attention. He beckoned us to join the festivities inside. Never being ones to refuse an invitation, we accepted. Everyone welcomed us with open arms and smears of color.
We all came together under the colors of Lord Krishna and blended into the crowd. The Hindu God, Lord Krishna is portrayed with blue skin but the festival represents the rainbow of colors for each caste.
Holi is known as the Festival of Colors and the vibrant colors of Holi represent love. The “Holi Head of the Temple” told us that Holi is a time for India people to let go of prejudices, creeds, castes, and discrimination. We certainly felt the love at the Holi Celebrations in Matura
I believe they wanted us to have the best time possible. They even had Dave join in drumming at the Head of the Temple. The men loved holding Dave’s hands high in the air as they danced and laughed in a circle. During this festival, the men and women didn’t hold hands; instead, they only touched the same sex. Everyone had the utmost respect as children and adults alike threw handfuls of colored powder and water overhead.
Everyone in the temple wanted to dance with us. Women took turns dancing with me, swinging me around one after another and men took turns dancing with Dave. It was exhausting yet exhilarating all at once! As the only westerners in the temple, we were somewhat of a novelty, but the people of India are genuinely welcoming and friendly. If you celebrate the Holi in India, you will have one of the most memorable travel experiences of your life!
Where is Holi Celebrated?
We celebrated Holi in Mathura but Holi is celebrated across India. Northern India celebrates Holi with more vigor, but it is catching on in other parts of the country and around the world too.
- Mathura is the number one place to celebrate Holi as it is the birthplace of the Hindu God Lord Krishna
- Jaipur – The elephant festival is celebrated on the eve of Holi here
- Udaipur is India’s most beautiful city and the streets come alive during the festival.
- Goa – South India doesn’t celebrate as much as the North, but because Goa is a popular tourist destination, Holi is celebrated.
- Hampi – this was one of our favorite places in India and they have started celebrating to appease tourists
- Mumbai is another great place to celebrate with the Holi Pot competition to become the Holi King.
- Delhi – The Holi Cow festival makes Delhi during this time.
- In West Bengal – The focus more on celebrating the eternal romance of Radha and Krishna
- Agra, in Uttar Pradesh also celebrates so if you find yourself exploring India’s most famous attraction, The Taj Mahal you can join in.
- West Bengal – The West Bengal Dol Jatra is celebrated on the same day as Holi. It is similar to Holi and festival goers also throw colored water to celebrate Lord Krishna and Radha.
From Agra, it is an easy trip to Mathura. Mathura is located just 50 km north of Agra just two hour by train from Delhi, an ideal location. But Holi is celebrated in all parts of India so chances are you’ll be able to join the celebrations no matter where you are in the country.
12 Tips for Celebrating Holi in India
- Mathura is where we celebrated Holi, but no matter where you are in India, it will be celebrated.
- Go to local parks and residential neighborhoods, or ask at your guest house where Holi is being celebrated nearby.
- Don’t wear anything that you want to keep. Every piece of clothing will be ruined and you will have to throw it out.
- Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts so as to have minimal skin exposed.
- Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes, but buy cheap ones that you don’t mind throwing away afterward.
- Take off all watches and jewelry. (as you can see, I didn’t and my watch was trashed)
- Ladies, wear your hair back or wear a scarf. My hair was pink for weeks.
- Use only waterproof camera gear: Holi is messy. It’s not just water, but thick powder. It can ruin cameras.
- Put everything in waterproof dry bags and only bring them out when necessary. Even GoPros can get ruined.
- Don’t carry any valuables.
- Make sure to have a meeting place should you get lost. The crowds are huge and you may become separated.
- As a foreigner, you are sometimes targeted by overzealous festival-goers. They can be a little too aggressive, and some men can cross the line and grab and touch women a little too aggressively. I am sad to report that women are often groped during Holi, myself and my friend Becca included. Men can be aggressive when throwing foam or powder in your face, so be on your guard.
A word of advice, if you are going to celebrate Holi at one of the popular celebration destinations, book your hotel in advance. When we got off the train, we couldn’t believe the crowds! It is overwhelming and we had a difficult time finding a hotel.
- Hotels are quite reasonable in Mathura you can search TripAdvisor for hotels and reviews.
- We also suggest Booking.com, it is good to compare rates and reviews to make an informed decision.
Festival of Colors
It was not a fun process cleaning up after Holi. The sun was hot and the mix of colored foam, water, and thick powders hadd baked on our skin. The mixture of colored powder and water-stained our skin and hair, and we had to scrub until our skin is raw to eventually look close to normal.
It took over an hour to clean ourselves up with the bucket and scoop bath and the four of us never quite made it back to our former selves. My hair was pink for weeks, and our feet? Well, our feet never did recover from Holi.
We tossed our clothes in the trash and found bits of powder in every crevasse of our body for days to come. But it was worth every moment. To take part in Holi while enjoying with great friends is something that we will never forget! Holi Festival is a once in a lifetime experience.
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Enjoy this Holi guide? Why not pin it to Pinterest for future travel planning?
Fantastic article! Thank you for blogging about India’s Holi celebrations. Continue to provide wonderful stuff.
Holi one of the biggest festival in India, very beautifully presented in this blog.
Holi is the very colourful and intersting festival of india……most colourful post…..greatttttttt
I am from India. Holi is festival of color. It is one of my favorite festival after Diwali. Thank a lot for writing about India’s beauty, culture and festival which will remove false thinking about India…. once again thank you very much… keep on…
This is very intersting and colourful festival. We do celebrate in Nepal as well with lots of different colours. I love this festival.
Amazing! I really love to read this article. Holy is the famous festival in Nepal and India.
I love colors so Holy is my favorite festival. Thank you very much for sharing a great information.
Holi is not complete without vibrant Gulal, Colours, Dhol and Unlimited Fun. Thanks for sharing the wonderful blog post.
Holi is not complete without vibrant Gulal, Colours, Dhol, DJ and Unlimited Fun. Thank you very much for sharing a great information. I appreciate your time and effort in your work.
I love colors so Holy is my favorite festival. My foreigners friends from UK mostly comes during the festival.
Holi / Dol-Jatra is one of the biggest festival in India. Thanks for sharing the valuable post to us.
Holi is really colorful festival which is more enjoyable while play with flowers, herbal colors but you must enjoy whenever you visit in India during this time
thanks for the information
Every tourist who visits India during the month of March should experience the Holi festival
Thanks for this useful information, Really amazing. Thanks again Regard
I remembering watching this festival on The Amazing Race last year. Everyone was getting so angry with the paint, and I was thinking “What a blast that would be!”
They have good food in India.
Oh. Wow. What an inspiration. I would leave now if I could. I really admire your hard work on this and appreciate how thorough you were. Here I am chained behind my computer. Thanks for taking me on a mini-vacation!
This post about the festival of color or better termed as Holi is so amazing.
I shall recommend this to my fellow class mates.
Simply wanted to stop by and say thanks for sharing such an amazing history from India.
Nice information holi festival is one of the most popular festival in India. Thanks for sharing
Hi,
Thanks for the great article!
The Holi festival has a cultural significance among various Hindu traditions of the Indian subcontinent
You guys are looking super awesome. I missed the opportunity since I went in November.
I had been to India but didn’t get a chance to play Holi. I would love to be a part of this colorful festival.
Welcome to India!
We are glad you had fun.
I also want to share a folklore behind this festival. A day before the colorful celebration, at night you might have encountered a pyre and people praying around it.
It is to commemorate the demise of “HOLIKA,” an evil aunt of PRAHLAD, a young child and a follower of Lord Vishnu. HOLIKA took the child along with her in the pyre in order to kill him, but because of the grace of god, instead of child, she burnt to death.
The people were happy to get rid of an evil person and the next day played colors to cherish the peace they found. 🙂
Guys, if you happen to visit India again, also try to attend the Holi in Vrindavan. They play with flowers and the aura is too great.
I just love holi and my indian friends thanks for the article
i just love the holi festival and the colours of india
I have enjoyed this festival many times in my life. it just always creates a wow moments to keep in memories of celebrations.
Festivals are one of the major part of the cultural country like India. And Holi comes among the best festivals. It is a colorful festival. I am glad that you have enjoyed a lot and I hope you love our culture. I am thanking you to visit India and you are always welcome here. Travel in India anytime and enjoy several festivals. Plan a holiday trip to India this season.
Photographs speak that how much fun you guys had in holi festival. It is really a beautiful and most enjoyable festival of India.
Wow, absolutely fantastic blog. I am very glad to have such useful information. Thanks.
Today 13 March 2017 was holi in india. we had great fun today. everything looks colorfull toady.
Wow! Holi Festival is really an original festival!
Wow smile on the face of people celebrating holi an amazing, i like all pictures that you share on post, very nice thanks.
Stunning photos! I’m disappointed that I won’t be spending Holi in Nepal this year – I arrive five days too late!
So incredible! I’ve been to India once before, and am heading back again this year. I think next time I need to organise around the holi festival! What an amazing experience X
I’ve seen some pictures from this event, but never actually read the description of the event (and what happen with the paint cleaning) like this. Looks like so much fun!! I hope when I finally reach India, it will coincide with this event!
.-= Dina´s last blog ..Top 3 Pieces of Traveling Advice by Travelers Around the World =-.
Holi was definitely a unique experiences. And yes, the clean up was a long process. but lots of fun and well worth it.
You guys have too much fun! 🙂
.-= John Bardos -JetSetCitizen´s last blog ..The Ultimate Guide to Volunteering Abroad =-.
Such fun photos – sooooo happy Spring’s finally here!!!!
Absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!!! I will do this one day. Which city in India do you think is the best to be in for Holi? Your pics were fantastic btw.
.-= Andi´s last blog ..Brasil: Day 7 (Part 2) =-.
AWESOME!!!!
I love both the visual and written aspect here…lol
I remembering watching this festival on The Amazing Race last year. Everyone was getting so angry with the paint, and I was thinking “What a blast that would be!”
Reminds of when you two went to the water festival…Holy Moly, lol
It’s great to see you so thrilled and with such a zest for life.
Miss you guys, but SEE YOU SOON!
xo
It reminded us of the water festival too except much dirtier. Walking in the water mixed with cow crap wasn’t too much fun:-)
Love this ‘colourful’ post! 😀
I hope no cameras got damaged during the fun!
.-= Gourmantic´s last blog ..A Look Inside Dubai’s Burj Al Arab Hotel =-.
Not ours at least!:-)