One of the joys of India is the way religious festivals are shared by people of all religions. This is particularly true of the Hindu festival of Holi.
Holi marks the end of winter. Typically, people celebrate with their families in the morning and around lunchtime hit the streets. They throw coloured water and powder (gulal) at each other. The colours mark rebirth. On the night before, bonfires are lit to mark a piece of Hindu mythology. An ancient Hindu king ordered his subjects to worship only him. But his little son refused, preferring to secretly worship the Hindu gods. The king found out and ordered his son to be killed. The king’s sister, Holika, said she had a shawl that protected her from fire, so she would take the boy into the flames and he would be consumed but she would be protected. But as stepped into the fire, the shawl wrapped around the boy and the sister was burnt.
The bonfires at the Holi festival mark the burning of Holika, in much the same way as we have Guy Fawkes day.
Foreigners should be wary of going out during the festival. Locals will bombard you with powder (as the journalist’s self-portrait on this pages attests. Wear expendable clothing. Worse, you can get some fairly sticky colour stains. The powders are mostly harmless, but these days some are made with mercury-based chemicals and mica. People with sensitive skin should be wary.
The pictures on this page illustrate the celebration of Holi this year in the northern city of Jaipur, and also show some other faces of India.