Globetrotters July Challenge: Celebrations Around The World

Holi: An Explosion of Color

Better than a food fight

Do you remember being in kindergarten and getting a hold of that paint powder that would be added to various mediums depending on the project, like finger painting? Did you ever want to take that powder and throw it at someone?

Well, I did. Fingerpainting was my favorite thing.

So when in India do as the Indians do (at least in March)… and join in Holi!

I actually timed my visit to India to include Holi celebrations.

If you don’t know, Holi is an ancient spring celebration marking the love story between Krishna and Radha. It involves powdered paint… a lot of it. You throw it at friends and strangers. You wipe it on people’s faces and toss it into their hair. Some celebrations use flower petals instead of paint; red roses, marigolds, daisies, and sunflowers, it’s cleaner but not as much fun.

I was in Jaipur which I had heard was big on celebrating Holi so I was excited about it. A friend of mine had come to India to join me for a few weeks of my 3-month journey through the country and would be with me. I also discovered another good friend and her girlfriend would be in Jaipur at the same time.

At an elephant festival the night before Holi, as the sun went down, we got a sample of what we could expect, as powdered paint bombs exploded everywhere.

Everyone was laughing and cheering and it didn’t matter if you knew anyone, we were all in the paint fight together. People were throwing handfuls of brilliantly colored dry paint powder on each other and the crowd around them. Clouds of pink, blue, yellow, green, and red dust filled the air and everyone was covered from head to toe.

I learned that the colors each have their own significance. Red is for fertility, green symbolizes a new beginning and the start of spring, blue is the color of the god Krishna, and yellow is the color of turmeric.

As the paint fight died down, cannons of paint powder were fired off along with giant sparklers. It was a beautiful and colorful kick-off to Holi, and when the last cannon was fired the crowd calmly left the field, heading home or to their hotels.

My friends and I agreed to meet at a designated Holi celebration that promised safety. We had been warned that some people were throwing acid at Holi celebrants on the streets and to be extra careful. We had our driver take us to the celebration and take us back to our hotel later.

On our way, through Jaipur, we saw motorcycle and bicycle riders and pedestrians covered in color. People were out with their noise makers like New Year’s Eve and everyone was having a great time.

When we arrived at Khasa Kothi with our boxes of Holi paint powder, there were already several tour buses in the parking lot. As soon as we walked through the gate to the park, the paint was flying and we were soon covered in it. People were already unrecognizable, covered in paint powder from head to toe.

Strangers would come up to you with a handful of paint powder (every color under the rainbow), wish you a “Happy Holi” and then smear it on your cheeks, forehead, your clothes, hair, and anywhere else they could find that wasn’t already covered in it, and within minutes we were walking rainbows of brilliant colors, in our ears, noses, mouth… all except for my pants.

There were Rajasthani bands playing music, dancing with tourists and locals, and everyone enjoying the holiday.

When we got back to our hotel we took turns in the shower trying to scrub it all off, and for the most part, it worked, except for our chests, mine half green and half red/purple that wouldn’t come off no matter how hard I scrubbed. It would be a reminder for the next few days of the fun we had enjoying the colorful festival of Holi.

Since I’m getting a reputation as the festival guy, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to take part in Globetrotters July Challenge: Celebrations Around The World. Thanks Adrienne and Crystal.

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