Holi [India 2020]
Holi is the 1400-year-old festival of colour, celebrated at the end of spring. According to legend, Holi was started by the mischievous Krishna (avatar of Vishnu) himself, when he was playing with Radha, his primary girlfriend and applied coloured powder on her face. This might well be the first "சம்பவம்" in history!
With Holi on March 10th, I built my travel plan around it. Although Holi is celebrated intensely throughout North India, two villages are well known for their celebrations. Pushkar in Rajasthan is where foreign tourists flock at, streets full of people dancing and partying with DJ playing at one end. Less touristic Vrindavan, the tiny village where Krishna supposedly grew up after his birth in nearby Mathura, celebrates Holi with equal intensity. Due to coronavirus concerns and since I wanted to enjoy the traditional Holi, I chose to visit Vrindavan, which is 3 hours from Delhi.
The night before Holi is Holika Dahn. People build large bonfires dance around them to celebrate Vishnu burning the asura Holika to save his devotee Prahaladan. The hometown of Krishna is full of Krishna's favorite diary items: Badam milk, Lassi and countless sweets. The next day is entirely a day of celebration, people standing by the roadside hitting each other with colored power chanting "radhe radhe", pouring colored water from balconies, kids playing with water guns. Not even people travelling in cars and autos are spared.
The narrow streets of Vrindavan near the popular temples get super crowded in the morning. Barely able to breathe, at one point I was sure I'm going to crack a rib or two. Bhang (ganja drink) flows freely, and intoxicated people can be violent. I saw incidents of European girls being harassed by locals and my T-shirt also was torn by a rogue group.
I visited Mathura in the evening. The museum that contains Buddhist works of Mathura school of sculpture was closed for Holi. Visited the Jananbumi temple around the place where Krishna was supposedly born. The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt 5 times in it's 2000 year history. Aurangazeb destroyed it and built a majestic Mughal mosque, which stands side by side with the new temple today. Anticipating an ayodhya-like riot, this area is heavily guarded by police. The exact spot of birth is now almost inside the mosque and can be visited from the temple. I noticed people in these villages even answer their phone with "radhe!" rather than "hello".
Holi was so intense, I got exhausted in 2 hours. But definitely it's not my most memorable experience in India. It's way more fun if you travel with a group of friends. I'm hoping to return to India and enjoy the Pushkar Holi as well.
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