I participated in Holi in March 2015. It was an intense experience that lived up the hype. Colored powders were thrown everywhere and it's not long before I was "decorated" for Holi. The link to the right documents my experience and the information below provides the details for a similar excursion.
HOLI BACKGROUND
Holi is a week (or so) celebration culminating on the Phalgun Purnima Full Moon which typically falls in March (2016: Mar. 23; 2017: Mar. 13) or late February. The celebration commemorates the start of spring and bids farewell to winter with an array of color powders and water sprays. The underlying religious element focuses on the triumph of good over evil.
PRE-FULL MOON CELEBRATIONS
Depending upon location, local festivities may start a week or two in advance and rotate daily between a region's temples. In the Mathura area a major pre-Holi festival is Lathmar Holi, which involves women playfully beating men with bamboo sticks. The ritual is based upon a story of how female gods chased Krishna away after he teased them. The daily celebrations begin to gain momentum the day before the full moon and from this point onward you should be "on alert" for colors.
NIGHT AND DAY OF CELEBRATIONS
Since the celebration centers around the spring full moon, the festivities actually start late in the evening / early morning of the full moon. The festival of colors continues into the morning and afternoon of the next day - if you arrive early afternoon you will miss most of the celebration. On the night of the full moon neighborhood residents gather around a pile of burning cow dung, called a Holika Bonfire - Holika is a Hindu demon and her statue appears atop most cow dungs. The neighborhood gatherings range from solemn, quiet affairs to raucous parties that involve loud music, dancing, and various inhibition enablers in the form of bhang (Indian marijuana) and alcohol. The size of the gatherings vary and the loudness of a party is not necessarily an indicator of its size - the louder parties may have only a few participants while the quieter parties have a larger attendance. Once the bonfire burns down color powders start to be thrown.
WHERE TO CELEBRATE
The day after the full moon night celebrations vary from quiet, self reflective affairs to all out color "wars" with pigment battles fought in the streets. Celebrations tend to before "active" in the northern states of India versus the south with the most "colorful" celebration occurring in Vrindavan, twelve kilometers north of Mathura. Udaipur's Royal Family hosts a popular Holi festival event.
PRE-FULL MOON CELEBRATIONS
Depending upon location, local festivities may start a week or two in advance and rotate daily between a region's temples. In the Mathura area a major pre-Holi festival is Lathmar Holi, which involves women playfully beating men with bamboo sticks. The ritual is based upon a story of how female gods chased Krishna away after he teased them. The daily celebrations begin to gain momentum the day before the full moon and from this point onward you should be "on alert" for colors.
NIGHT AND DAY OF CELEBRATIONS
Since the celebration centers around the spring full moon, the festivities actually start late in the evening / early morning of the full moon. The festival of colors continues into the morning and afternoon of the next day - if you arrive early afternoon you will miss most of the celebration. On the night of the full moon neighborhood residents gather around a pile of burning cow dung, called a Holika Bonfire - Holika is a Hindu demon and her statue appears atop most cow dungs. The neighborhood gatherings range from solemn, quiet affairs to raucous parties that involve loud music, dancing, and various inhibition enablers in the form of bhang (Indian marijuana) and alcohol. The size of the gatherings vary and the loudness of a party is not necessarily an indicator of its size - the louder parties may have only a few participants while the quieter parties have a larger attendance. Once the bonfire burns down color powders start to be thrown.
WHERE TO CELEBRATE
The day after the full moon night celebrations vary from quiet, self reflective affairs to all out color "wars" with pigment battles fought in the streets. Celebrations tend to before "active" in the northern states of India versus the south with the most "colorful" celebration occurring in Vrindavan, twelve kilometers north of Mathura. Udaipur's Royal Family hosts a popular Holi festival event.
MATHURA / VRINDAVAN BREAKDOWN
ARRIVE ONE DAY EARLY
You'll want to arrive in Mathura the day of the full moon. While Mathura is only a two hour train ride from Delhi and 60k from Agra, it's a night and morning celebration so attending as a day trip misses some of the festival components. Arriving a day early also helps to get your bearings, do a practice "color run", find a group of people to travel with, and identify where you want to party the following day. If you are in a time crunch its best to arrive the day of the full moon, sleep at a hotel, wake early the next morning for the color party, then shower late the next morning and catch an outbound ticket early the next afternoon. The celebration winds down around three in the afternoon after hitting a mid-morning peak.
FIND A HOTEL
If you are staying the night, most hotels catering to Westerners are along Junction Road about one kilometer north of the train station - expect to pay 600 - 1,000 rupees for a room. There's not much to Mathura - it's a small, dirty village that receives visitors because of it's status as a Hindu pilgrimage site. It does have a fair selection of hotels. Even though the major celebration is in Vrindavan, basing yourself in Mathura offers a wider range of hotels, is closer to the train station, and there are some benefits to not staying in the party zone.
VISIT MATHURA SITES
On the arrival day you can take in the sites of Mathura. The two most popular temples are the Shri Krishna Janm Bhoomi Temple, the birthplace of Krishna, and the Dwakadheesh Temple. On the north side of the Shri Krishna Janm Bhoomi Temple is the Keshavde Ji Temple, a descending stair temple with a pool.
You'll want to arrive in Mathura the day of the full moon. While Mathura is only a two hour train ride from Delhi and 60k from Agra, it's a night and morning celebration so attending as a day trip misses some of the festival components. Arriving a day early also helps to get your bearings, do a practice "color run", find a group of people to travel with, and identify where you want to party the following day. If you are in a time crunch its best to arrive the day of the full moon, sleep at a hotel, wake early the next morning for the color party, then shower late the next morning and catch an outbound ticket early the next afternoon. The celebration winds down around three in the afternoon after hitting a mid-morning peak.
FIND A HOTEL
If you are staying the night, most hotels catering to Westerners are along Junction Road about one kilometer north of the train station - expect to pay 600 - 1,000 rupees for a room. There's not much to Mathura - it's a small, dirty village that receives visitors because of it's status as a Hindu pilgrimage site. It does have a fair selection of hotels. Even though the major celebration is in Vrindavan, basing yourself in Mathura offers a wider range of hotels, is closer to the train station, and there are some benefits to not staying in the party zone.
VISIT MATHURA SITES
On the arrival day you can take in the sites of Mathura. The two most popular temples are the Shri Krishna Janm Bhoomi Temple, the birthplace of Krishna, and the Dwakadheesh Temple. On the north side of the Shri Krishna Janm Bhoomi Temple is the Keshavde Ji Temple, a descending stair temple with a pool.
On the arrival day you can take in the sites of Mathura. The two most popular temples are the Shri Krishna Janm Bhoomi Temple, the birthplace of Krishna, and the Dwakadheesh Temple. On the north side of the Shri Krishna Janm Bhoomi Temple is the Keshavde Ji Temple, a descending stair temple with a pool.
It's a fascinating 20-30 minute walk from the Shri Krishna to the Dwakadheesh Temple along Mandi Ramdas Road and Dori Bazar. The street is lined with ancient houses, temples, and shops. The street leads to the Yumana River where you can rent a boat. Once you've had your fill of temples and ghats you can walk back to the main drag and hire a tuk tuk to return you to your hotel.
At night it's important to stock up on key items for the preceding day. A convenience store at the Bharat Petroleum gas station on Junction Road (south of D.D. Plaza) has everything you'll need: food, water, baby wipes, toilet paper, moisturizer, etc. Most Mathura shops and restaurants, including your hotel's, will be closed in the morning and not reopen until 2-3 in the afternoon.
Once the shopping is completed you can begin making passes through the neighborhoods to watch the burning pile of cow dung. Unfortunately the bonfires do not begin at sun down - start times vary late into the evening with the earliest starting around ten. As noted above, noise volume is not directly indicative of party size and you can wander around to find the noise only to find a group of four people gyrating in all directions to music (presumably these people have been enjoying quite a bit of bhang). Supposedly there are a few bonfires that Sardus burst from (I assume bhang is involved in this too) although I think this may just be conjecture.
The day after the full moon night you'll want to rise early and be in a tuk tuk heading to Vrindavan by 7 or 8. A tuk tuk should cost between 250-300 rupees and cover the 12 kilometer drive in 15 minutes. You'll want to be clear with the driver to take you to one of Vrindavan's temples - Bankey Bihari (the most renowned temple), Krishna Balaram Mandir (a Hare Krishna temple) or somewhere in between. The streets in front of these temples is where most of the action unfolds and if you arrive somewhere else in Vrindavan it will be quiet.
The street celebrations are intense and Westerners draw a lot of attention and are expected to "play" with the locals. In the purest and most traditional form this play consists of having Kumkuma Powder rubbed on your cheeks and forehead. The "play" escalates from there to having powder rubbed in your hair and thrown on your clothes. You need to be wary of headshots because you do not want powder hitting your eyes - sunglasses provide some protection but if you want to go "all-in" you may want to consider wearing a pair of goggles. Powder prices: a cheap - a small, decent quality bag costs 10 rupees.
The color madness you need to be careful of are the water guns which spray a dye concoction that stains not only your clothes but also your skin. It leaves a more lasting mark and cannot be easily washed off. You'll notice that the people with these water guns and deep paint like powder on their hands are mostly distributors of this madness and not too welcoming of a return treatment. There are also cheaper, synthetic powders that are much itchier and irritate the skin more than the traditional, natural powders - these powders are usually in large bags and much softer, looser than the higher quality powders. Powder spray cans are also available for sale.
You are in Mathura / Vrindavan for the madness so avoiding the colors and not partaking in the madness defeats the purpose of the visit - other places have a more solemn celebration if you want to avoid looking like a grape. However, the coloring can be such an intense experience and all it takes is a single cheap shot to turn a fun morning into a frustrating or fearful experience, so it's important to identify a place to escape from the mayhem. After the early morning coloring, the group I was with found sanctuary (literally and figuratively) in the Krishan Balaram Temple. The temple had a flight of stairs where you could continue to watch the mayhem unfold from above without keeping your head on a swivel looking for the next color toss.
The group I was with spent the next three hours at the temple partaking in several religious ceremonies that involved the pounding of drums, dancing, and the repeated chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. It was not quite the Hindu
experience I was looking for on Holi, however, it was still enchanting and provided a place to rest and observe without continuously participating in the madness outside. The temple closed to outsiders around noon - they did let me leave early in the afternoon. I left through a side entrance, avoided the mayhem on the main street (which at this point was covered in a pink dusting like snow powder), and fortunately hired a tuk tuk for 300 rupees back to Mathura within ten minutes and no coloring after leaving the temple.
Once the shopping is completed you can begin making passes through the neighborhoods to watch the burning pile of cow dung. Unfortunately the bonfires do not begin at sun down - start times vary late into the evening with the earliest starting around ten. As noted above, noise volume is not directly indicative of party size and you can wander around to find the noise only to find a group of four people gyrating in all directions to music (presumably these people have been enjoying quite a bit of bhang). Supposedly there are a few bonfires that Sardus burst from (I assume bhang is involved in this too) although I think this may just be conjecture.
The day after the full moon night you'll want to rise early and be in a tuk tuk heading to Vrindavan by 7 or 8. A tuk tuk should cost between 250-300 rupees and cover the 12 kilometer drive in 15 minutes. You'll want to be clear with the driver to take you to one of Vrindavan's temples - Bankey Bihari (the most renowned temple), Krishna Balaram Mandir (a Hare Krishna temple) or somewhere in between. The streets in front of these temples is where most of the action unfolds and if you arrive somewhere else in Vrindavan it will be quiet.
The street celebrations are intense and Westerners draw a lot of attention and are expected to "play" with the locals. In the purest and most traditional form this play consists of having Kumkuma Powder rubbed on your cheeks and forehead. The "play" escalates from there to having powder rubbed in your hair and thrown on your clothes. You need to be wary of headshots because you do not want powder hitting your eyes - sunglasses provide some protection but if you want to go "all-in" you may want to consider wearing a pair of goggles. Powder prices: a cheap - a small, decent quality bag costs 10 rupees.
The color madness you need to be careful of are the water guns which spray a dye concoction that stains not only your clothes but also your skin. It leaves a more lasting mark and cannot be easily washed off. You'll notice that the people with these water guns and deep paint like powder on their hands are mostly distributors of this madness and not too welcoming of a return treatment. There are also cheaper, synthetic powders that are much itchier and irritate the skin more than the traditional, natural powders - these powders are usually in large bags and much softer, looser than the higher quality powders. Powder spray cans are also available for sale.
You are in Mathura / Vrindavan for the madness so avoiding the colors and not partaking in the madness defeats the purpose of the visit - other places have a more solemn celebration if you want to avoid looking like a grape. However, the coloring can be such an intense experience and all it takes is a single cheap shot to turn a fun morning into a frustrating or fearful experience, so it's important to identify a place to escape from the mayhem. After the early morning coloring, the group I was with found sanctuary (literally and figuratively) in the Krishan Balaram Temple. The temple had a flight of stairs where you could continue to watch the mayhem unfold from above without keeping your head on a swivel looking for the next color toss.
The group I was with spent the next three hours at the temple partaking in several religious ceremonies that involved the pounding of drums, dancing, and the repeated chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. It was not quite the Hindu
experience I was looking for on Holi, however, it was still enchanting and provided a place to rest and observe without continuously participating in the madness outside. The temple closed to outsiders around noon - they did let me leave early in the afternoon. I left through a side entrance, avoided the mayhem on the main street (which at this point was covered in a pink dusting like snow powder), and fortunately hired a tuk tuk for 300 rupees back to Mathura within ten minutes and no coloring after leaving the temple.