NEW DELHI — Across South Asia, millions of people came together on Friday to celebrate Holi, the vibrant Hindu festival known for its riot of colors. Participants joyfully hurled colorful powders on each other, danced to lively music, and indulged in an array of traditional sweets crafted for this joyous occasion.
Known as a raucous spring festivity, Holi marks the end of winter and heralds the triumph of good over evil within Hindu tradition. While in India it is celebrated as a national holiday, in Nepal the festival extends over two days starting Thursday. Holi’s reach extends beyond the Indian subcontinent, resonating with Indian diaspora communities around the globe.
Rooted in Hindu mythology, Holi honors the divine love between the deity Krishna and his muse Radha, symbolizing a period of renewal and vitality. Across India, revellers, often clad in white garments, engaged in playful skirmishes by flinging vibrantly hued powders at each other. Child participants, stationed from rooftops and balconies, launched water balloons filled with vivid colors at the unsuspecting below.
In public spaces such as parks, groups of young men chased each other with water guns filled with colorful liquids while others took to the streets, dancing enthusiastically to infectious beats echoing from speakers.
In the capital, New Delhi, a spectrum of colorful dust hung mockingly in the air above a park where friends doused one another in pigmented powders and tinted waters. “It’s a time for fun and frolic,” shared Krisha Bedi, a lawyer immersed in reds, greens, and blues.
In certain regions, instead of powders, celebrants tossed an array of marigold, rose, and jasmine petals. In Ahmedabad, in the country’s western reaches, a throng of thousands convened at temples to be bathed in streams of colored water while swaying to traditional Gujarati tunes, and clapping high above their heads.
With food and refreshment being central to the celebrations, stalls throughout India offered thandai, a pale green concoction made from milk, cardamom, and dried fruits, alongside gujia, a crisp, deep-fried pastry brimming with milk curds, nuts, and dried fruits. Another Holi staple is bhang, a drink made with cannabis, traditionally linked to Lord Shiva within Hinduism, and featured prominently during numerous religious festivities. Legal regulations allow its sale under government supervision.
The night before the festivities, many communities across India light towering bonfires to symbolize the annihilation of malevolence and the victory of virtue. Gathered families offer dances, songs, and prayers to the Hindu pantheon around the crackling flames.
In two northern towns, a unique Holi tradition unfolded last week as hundreds of women playfully hit men who jeered them with wooden sticks, part of an age-old ritual known as “Lathmar Holi,” or Stick Holi.
