Bonfires and buckets of color all across India in the spirit of “let’s all get along”
Our 11-day itinerary in India is one of the craziest experiences you can have—one of those trips that literally changes your life and hits your way of seeing the world like a slap in the face.
If you haven’t done it yet, we strongly recommend fixing that right away and not missing the chance to enrich yourself in a way few other experiences can. In particular, we suggest choosing departure dates between February and March, when the Holi Festival is celebrated.
Never heard of it?
That’s not great. But let’s fix that right now.
Here’s a Sto Gran article for you—enjoy a little taste of the awesomeness that is Holi Festival.
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You’ve never seen anything like Holi in your life!
Holi Festival is one of the coolest celebrations in the Hindu religion and is observed on a date that varies between February and March according to the Hindu lunar calendar.
There are two main events: Holika Dahan and the Festival of Colors.
The first is a huge bonfire lit on the eve of Holi, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil (we’ll explain the religious meaning of Holika in more detail later). Crowds gather around it to dance, sing, and make a joyful uproar: it’s absolutely amazing.
The next day comes the Festival of Colors, an even bigger explosion of energy: adults and children, friends and strangers gather in the streets and turn them into a battleground where the only goal is to spread happiness through color.
A truly unique spectacle!
Thousands of people all over India throw clouds of colored powder and splashes of tinted water at one another, in a pure expression of joy and freedom. And the best part is that this event is much more than a simple game: it holds a deeply fascinating symbolic universe. It celebrates the arrival of spring and positivity in human relationships, and each color has its own meaning: green represents harmony, blue vitality, red love and fertility, and yellow faith and knowledge.
The magic of this day lies not only in the colors, but in the way barriers are broken down. During these hours of celebration, distinctions of caste, religious belief, age, and gender seem to disappear: everyone is equal beneath Holi’s multicolored veil.
The many faces of Holi
If Holi has made you want to join in the fun, you should know that it is not celebrated in exactly the same way all across India.
In the north, it’s at its wildest: the explosion of joy, color, and music we described in the previous paragraph. Here, tradition calls for people to throw bright colors at one another and take part in water fights. The Braj region, which includes places like Mathura and Vrindavan, is especially famous for its celebrations linked to the deity Krishna: it’s where love and religion merge in a riot of colors and exuberant dancing.
Heading toward southern India, things become a bit more serious and spiritual. Here, Holi is more focused on temple ceremonies and rituals, and the celebrations are quieter, though no less meaningful. It’s a sort of zen-mode Holi, where reflection and devotion take precedence over colorful frenzy.
Now, if we fly westward, we find a royal Holi. Literally!
In Udaipur, the royal family takes part in the celebrations, giving the festival a touch of majesty.
Meanwhile, in the east, in West Bengal, Holi takes on a more intellectual tone. Here it is known as Basanta Utsav and is celebrated with songs, dances, and poetic performances. Imagine something like a literary festival, but without an artist trying to recite their latest “just 7,678-line” composition about their philosophical reflections on the concept of property.
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The young man they burdened with sainthood
And now, as promised, here is the mythology behind the Holika Dahan bonfire. It’s a fantastic story at the heart of the celebration of the victory of good over evil.
A loooong, long time ago there was a guy named Hiranyakashipu who, just to keep things modest, had taken the title of king of the demons (the Asuras). This villain had obtained special powers that made him practically invincible: he could not be killed by either man or beast, neither by day nor by night, neither inside a building nor outside, neither by a hand-held weapon nor a projectile weapon, neither on land nor in water.
In short, he was incredibly tough—almost stronger than Chuck Norris, but a thousand times more awful—to the point that he decided he was a god and that everyone should worship him.
His son, Prahlada, however, disagreed and, despite his father’s wishes, chose to continue worshipping Vishnu, one of the supreme deities of the Hindu religion.
So Hiranyakashipu became furious and tried in every possible way to make his son change his mind, using “very gentle” methods such as torture and corporal punishment. But he got nowhere.
At one point, the boy’s aunt got involved too—another truly charming character—and tricked him into sitting in the middle of a bonfire with her, convinced that she would survive thanks to a magical cloak that made her immune to flames.
She was stunned when the cloak slipped from her shoulders and wrapped itself around her nephew instead, leaving her at the mercy of the fire and allowing Prahlada to emerge unharmed.
At that point, however, Hiranyakashipu’s invincibility was still a problem. But Vishnu stepped in to set things right: he transformed into one of his incarnations, half man and half lion (so neither human nor animal). He seized Hiranyakashipu at twilight (neither day nor night), dragged him to a doorway threshold (neither inside nor outside), placed him on his lap (neither on land nor in water), and with his claws (neither a hand-held weapon nor a ranged one) tore open his abdomen and killed him once and for all.
So Holika Dahan is meant to commemorate the moment when Prahlada emerged unharmed from the bonfire thanks to Vishnu’s intervention, which marked the victory of good over evil.
What an incredible myth!
