Vrindavan: Holi at its best!

Holi, the Festival of Colours, be celebrated on Wednesday, 23rd March, 2016 all over the world with HolikaDahan preceding the festival on the night of 22nd March. The following weekend could be combined and it becomes a great holiday option for everyone.

This festival of colours has been celebrated in India since thousands of years and is now also celebrated by various communities of South Asia including non-Hindu communities. However, Holi in Braj is especially famous. Braj is a historical region which covers the area of Mathura, Vrindavan and some nearby areas. Holi, here, attracts tourists and pilgrims from all over the world because of its special customs and traditions. Mathura is the birth-place of Lord Krishna and Vrindavan is the place where he grew up in his childhood.

The Banke-Bihari Temple in Vrindavan is one of the best places to enjoy the festivities as it hosts a week long Holi celebrations. Vrindavan Holi is played with coloured water and gulal, a form of colour made using organic substances like flowers and kesar. Goswamis (priests in the temple) sprinkle colors on everyone using buckets, water guns, etc. The whole atmosphere is made even livelier with music in the background and people dancing to the tunes while enjoying the colors. On the Ekadashi before Holi, the Banke Bihari temple at Vrindavan celebrates a unique Holi which is not celebrated with conventional dry or wet colors, but with flowers, and hence the name Phoolonwaliholi (Flowers’ Holi). It’s an incredible experience to be a part of this event.

Apart from the Banke Bihari Temple, every other major Krishna Temple in Mathura and Vrindavan has some special celebrations going on for the entire week. The Gulal-Kund in Braj is also another interesting place to celebrate Vrindavan Holi. It is a small lake near the Govardhan hill. Local people act in Krishna-Lila drama and re-enact the scenes of Holi for the pilgrims.

These celebrations are legendary and the best way to go through with your Holi plans! There is not a single way you will be disappointed in Vrindavan when it comes to Holi. It is the most sought after tourist location to celebrate Holi in India for a reason, after all.

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About Shreya Chaudhury

First of all, if you are going to use incorrect grammar, steer clear of Shreya Chaudhury. A proper grammar Nazi, a hardcore music enthusiast (never seen without her headphones), a professional baarat dancer and a die hard Jeffrey Archer fan, you will probably find this 17 year old with a novel in hand, day dreaming about all these places she wants to travel in the future. If only time machines worked..