About Holi
Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, falls on the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Phalguna — typically late February or March in the Gregorian calendar. It marks the arrival of spring, the triumph of good over evil, and the end of winter. The festival is two days long: Holika Dahan on the eve, when bonfires are lit to commemorate the burning of the demoness Holika and the safe escape of the boy Prahlada — a Vishnu devotee her brother King Hiranyakashipu tried to kill — and Rangwali Holi the next day, the famous day of coloured powder and water. Holi is also associated with the love of Radha and Krishna in the Braj region around Mathura and Vrindavan. It is a public holiday in India, Nepal, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Mauritius and South Africa, and increasingly celebrated by Indian diaspora communities worldwide.
On the eve, communities gather around bonfires to perform Holika Dahan, often circling the fire with prayers and offerings of grain. The next morning is total mayhem: people pour into the streets and throw dry coloured powders (gulal) and water-filled balloons at each other regardless of age, caste or status — for a day the usual social order dissolves. Sweets like gujiya, mathri and malpua are shared; thandai, a milk-based drink often flavoured with bhang (cannabis), is drunk widely. The most famous Holi celebrations are at Mathura and Vrindavan, where festivities last over a week; the Lath Mar Holi at Barsana sees women playfully chase men with sticks. Music, drum-beats, dance and dousing of friends and strangers alike continue until the colours fade in late afternoon and everyone goes home to wash off and eat together.