Celebrate Festival of Colors

 

If you like to paint colors all over your face and soaked wet with colorful water — then you can do it tomorrow while celebrating “Holi” — Nepal’s best vigorous festivals of color, water and spring love.  

In 2019, Holi falls on 20th March, Wednesday in Nepal.

“Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.” 

― Oscar Wilde

Early spring marks the “festival of color” or “festival of love”, usually known as “Holi” celebrated among Nepalese people with great enthusiasm and fun.  Holi is one of the prominent Hindu festivals for all Nepalese across the country as it holds the religious significance of victory of good over evil.  This very festival also represents the arrival of spring season — which brings the sun after winter and blossoming begun with the spirit of laughter, fun, and forgiveness.

Normally people gather with their friends, families, and neighbors to exchange dry colors and attempt to wet each other with colored bucket water or small balloon (filled with water). Some are also known to prepare sweet milkshakes or drinks or delicious cakes (food) with added marijuana to celebrate it like another infamous weed day of Nepal “Shivaratri”. One can witness and participate this very fun day with local boys and girls who love to wander in the streets with a handful of different colors & water balloons and enjoying the festival with singing and screaming as much as they can.

Many tourists are seen celebrating this lovely day in the streets of Thamel, Durbar Squares, Pokhara Lakeside or other touristic or local places. Just make sure you have all your personal valuables like electronics and documents are covered and then you are ready to have lot of fun. By the end of the day (around 3-5 pm), most of them get cleaned, change clothes and stay home for delicious feast or visit family or friends to exchange the sweets and drinks.

As all the festivals and events are based upon the Nepalese calendar, the dates for celebration vary every year.  Holi falls on the last full moon day of the Lunar Calendar month which vary with lunar cycle marking the festival in early spring (late February to first March) and widely celebrated in Nepal and India.

According to popular Hindu legend, there was a King of Demon “Hiranyakasyapu” who gained boon of virtual destruction (almost immortal) after long worship to God Brahma which built his arrogance to led him false believe that he is God himself and asked all others to worship him but his son “Pralahd” was devotee of God Vishnu and refuse to do it. So, he used her gifted sister Holika who was harmless on fire to help him to kill his son. Holika took Pralhad in the burning pyre to kill him while he was chanting God Vishnu name, instead, she was burnt and nothing happened to Pralhad. The burning of Holika on the fire symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.