At the end of the winter of each year, the “Holi festival”, also known as the festival of colours or the festival of love, started in Vrindavan city, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The Holi festival is an ancient Hindu religious festival that is also popular among non-Hindus as well as other communities in many parts of South Asia and even outside Asia.
Please note: The Holi-celebration at Nandgaon and Barsana takes place approximately a week before the actual date for Holi.
There are two villages close to Vrindavan. One is called Nandgaon and the other one is known as Barsana. Nandgaon is Lord Krishna’s birthplace and Barsana is Radha’s (his beloved). Radha-Krishna love-story is one of the most famous ones in the Hindu mythology. Even today, a man/woman from Nandgaon would not get married to a woman/man from Barsana.
The festival begins on ‘ashtmi’ with ‘laddoo-leela’ at Barsana. We missed this. Taking ‘laddoo-leela’ into account, the celebrations last for two and a half days.
According to the legend, menfolk from Nandgaon visit Barsana to celebrate ‘Holi’ with women from Barsana. When these people come visiting, they are welcomed by these women with sticks and are beaten up. The bunch from Nandgaon comes well prepared for it, with a padded shield to counter the attacks. These sticks are called ‘lathths’, hence this holi-celebration is famously known as ‘Laththmaar’ holi.
Next day, the women from Barsana (since the women don’t go, men and trans-genders dressed as women represent women from the village) go to Nandgaon to celebrate Holi with the men from the village. They are welcomed with water and colour everywhere, but the main event takes place in the courtyard of the temple at Nandgaon. This event marks the highlight of the holi celebration at Nandgaon. During the celebrations at the temple courtyard, people from both the villages sit across each other singing, dancing and conversing and this meet-up is termed as ‘samaaj’.
