India celebrates the festival of colours, Holi, in many different ways, depending on where you live. The festival marks the triumph of good over evil. every year, people celebrate the festival with much fervour and joy with their friends and family. Though the celebration style may vary as per region, the enthusiasm remains the same for all. Here's a list of all festivals that are celebrated across India to mark the Holi festival.
Holi (across India and abroad):
Hola Mohalla (Punjab):
Royal Holi (Udaipur):
Basant Utsav (Shantiniketan):
Rangpanchmi (Maharashtra):
Lathmar Holi (Mathura, UP):
Holi 2022:- Holi is the main festival, which is celebrated across India and abroad. In some regions of the country, people celebrate Choti Holi (small Holi) a day before celebrating Holi. According to legends, the day marks the celebration of the death of demon king Hiranyakashipu and his sister Holika. On this day, people put up different colours on each other and enjoy good food and drinks. People gather around, eat delicious food and play with colours. The festivities around Holi were toned down for the past years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but this time, with the relaxation of Covid curbs, people expected to make up for the lost time.
Hola Mohalla (Punjab):- Hola Mohalla is celebrated a day before Holi, especially by Nihang Sikhs. Activities that are undertaken to mark the festival are martial arts, chakkar spinning, horsemanship, swordsmanship, tent pegging, and other war-like sports. People also play with different colours. People also distribute sweets on this day, especially halwa and gujia. The festivities last around three days every year. It concludes with a 'military-style' procession near Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, one of the five seats of the temporal authority of the Sikhs.
Royal Holi (Udaipur):- The city celebrates Holi for two days. The festival starts with Holika Dahan in which people put up bonfires and enjoy folk music.
Basant Utsav (Shantiniketan):- Basanta Utsav means the ‘celebration of spring’. On this day, people perform a long musical dance. The festival was first started by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore at Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. No different from Holi, the festival is marked by festivities and colours.
Rangpanchami:- The Rangpanchami festival is especially famous among the fisherfolks of Maharashtra. On this day, people indulge in all sorts of singing and dancing and put up colours on each other. Some people of Maharashtra also know Holi as Shimga or Shimgo.
Lathamar Holi:- The couples celebrate the Lathamar Holi with utmost zeal. The Lathmar Holi festivals are primarily famous in the twin towns of Barsana and Nandgaon in UP, also known as the towns of Radha and Krishna. As the name suggests, people celebrate the festival by playing with sticks. On this day, people also dance to music beats and enjoy food delicacies.
