The festival of Holi has a special significance where essential elements are viz, unity and togetherness. This is the right time to forget all the differences and get involved in pure fun. There is no discrimination of cast, creed, color, race, status or sex while one celebrates Holi in full vigor. People sprinkle colored powder (gulal) and colored water on each other and that is the most important part of the celebration.
Scheduled for March 27, 2013, the Festival of Holi infuses vibrancy and enthusiasm amongst people in India and abroad. A large number of tourists are attracted towards this grand affair of Holi celebration. The spring festival of the Hindus is observed in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and countries which have large Hindu diasporas. Many parts of the country celebrate Holi but the most famous areas are Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon, and Barsana.
People in Rajasthan play Holi much the same way. A night before the full moon, crowds of people gather together and light huge bonfires to burn the residual dried leaves and twigs of the winter. The next day people come together to celebrate it by throwing colours - water and powders (gulal and kumkum) at each other and make merry. A lot of local goodies are made in households and all love singing, dancing & drinking.
Last year we celebrated Holi in Jaipur. It was boisterous and we must add that it had an element of the class in it with a few families joining in from different erstwhile royal houses of the state. To have so many different cultures, thoughts and beliefs, together in the gardens of Narain Niwas and under the same sky, laughing, drinking and dancing to the merry tunes unknown to most, was an absolute blissful experience.
Everyone was offered a welcome drink and a white kurta & pajama to experience the festivity, in splashing colours and water. Our in-house expert ‘Gajendra Singh’ tied turbans to all the guests. A never ending trail of fresh snacks made its way in and out of the kitchen with the live music staring slowly in the background. The bar looked dapper and with the downing of beers and some wine the crowd seemed to come alive. The local families started with the play of colours, wishing and colouring each other when all joined in. Within an hour everyone was in action. Running, colouring, throwing coloured water and eating fresh sweets specially made under the guidance of the house ladies. Two very young Irish girls got in sync with the local musician and started performing their rhythmic Irish dance which includes rapid foot moment with body and arms kept stationary, at large.
The common element that bound us together was not only limited to the place, the food, the music…but instead a more divine experience….yes we coloured each other, yes we played ‘holi’ together!!!
