22.3.2008

Holi Festival

When we set out for the trip in Rajasthan I had no idea we would be in the middle of the Holi festival, until I read the guide books. Holi (the festival of colours) is celebrated in North India, marking the climax of spring. There are bonfires the night before symbolising the end of winter and conquering of evil. People throw colours at each other and anything that goes past them.

We have been warned about the festival by the locals who kept saying "don't go out, just stay in" but how boring would that be? We have to experience it even if it's for a short time.

So Judith and I decided to walk up to the main square this morning around 10am, assuming that the celebrations would have just started and can't be too bad. We didn't worry about getting covered in colour powder so much but there are some very toxic cheap stuff sold in India and you certainly don't want to get that smudged on your body.

It was fun watching the westerners enjoy the festival with the locals, a couple from our hotel looked seriously prepared with water guns, powder and bottles filled with mixed dyes. As we turned the corner from our hotel we could see children in the streets completely covered themselves and roads with powder. The main square was pretty crazy with techno music playing, people in trance dance, cows covered in paint, buildings covered in paint. It felt safer to watch it from a distance but the locals are very good at spotting who is missing the action and it doesn't take long for them to come running up to you and smudge powder on you with a smile "happy Holi"…

After our 20min walk we returned to our hotel unrecognisable. I had powder in my mouth, in my hair, in my top, absolutely everywhere which took much longer to wash off. Clothes were ruined as expected…But hey it was ok, it was good experience to be in the middle of the crazy celebration.

All the businesses are closed until 2pm so apparently the powder throwing will finish at 2pm as people will run out of energy and will head home to wash, so the street life will liven up with the shop owners welcoming you in narrow lanes of Pushkar, the holy city!