Participate In Holi Festival

The adventure

It begins the night before, around the Holika Dahan bonfires, as families gather to watch the flames and mark the triumph of good over evil. By morning the mood has flipped completely. In the lanes of Mathura and Vrindavan, the land of Krishna, people pour out of their homes with fistfuls of gulal powder, and within minutes there is no such thing as a clean face.

Clouds of magenta, yellow and green hang in the air. Children ambush you from rooftops with water pistols, temple priests fling colour over the crowds, and someone presses a sweet gujiya into your hand before daubing your cheeks. Everyone is laughing, soaked and unrecognisable, and the old divisions of age, caste and rank briefly disappear. By early afternoon the streets fall quiet, the colour is washed off, and people visit friends in fresh clothes.

Why it’s epic

Lathmar Holi in Barsana, where women playfully drive men back with long wooden sticks, a few days before the main festival.
Showers of colour inside Vrindavan's Banke Bihari temple, one of the most intense Holi celebrations in India.
Holika Dahan bonfires lit across India on the night before the colours.
Festival treats such as gujiya pastries and cool, spiced thandai.

What it is

Holi is the Hindu festival of colours.

How to do it

Mathura and Vrindavan have famous celebrations.

Top tip

Wear old clothes and protect your phone.

Need to know

Holi falls on the full moon of the Hindu month of Phalguna, usually in March, so the date changes each year.
Crowds get rowdy and some women travellers report unwanted groping, so many visitors join an organised group or a hotel celebration.
Bhang, a cannabis drink, is widely offered and much stronger than it tastes.
Coat skin and hair in oil beforehand, wear sunglasses and keep electronics in a sealed bag.

Plan this trip

Rough cost: £750 to £2,000 per person, including flights from the UK
Time needed: 1 to 2 days
Best time to go: February or March (full moon)
Fly into: DEL airport

India is affordable, but hotels near Mathura and Vrindavan raise prices and fill up during Holi week.

Make it happen

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Why it’s on my list

Holi is a Hindu spring festival, originating from India, celebrated predominantly in India but has also spread to Nepal and many other Western countries, also known as the “festival of colours” or the “festival of love”. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships

Holi celebrations start on the night before Holi with a Holika Dahan where people gather, perform religious rituals in front of the bonfire, and pray that their internal evil be destroyed the way Holika, the sister of the demon king Hiranyakashipu, was killed in the fire. The next morning is celebrated as Rangwali Holi – a free-for-all festival of colours, where people smear each other with colours and drench each other.

Water guns and water-filled balloons are also used to play and colour each other. Anyone and everyone is fair game, friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders. The frolic and fight with colours occurs in the open streets, open parks, outside temples and buildings. People visit family, friends and foes to throw coloured powders on each other, laugh and gossip, then share Holi delicacies, food and drinks. Some customary drinks include bhang (made from cannabis), which is intoxicating.