Visiting India during Holi Festival

If you want to experience a festival in India, you should think of visiting India during the Holi Festival. By mid-March, winters recede in India, and the onset of spring is marked by Holi, the festival of colors. One of the quirkiest and most fun festivals in India, people celebrate Holi by playing with water and colors on the streets. If you visit India during this time, try to time it around the Holi festivities for one of the best experiences of your life.

Read this blog to understand why, when, where, and how this festival of colors Holi is celebrated. This will help you to experience Holi in the best way. If you are planning on visiting India during Holi festival, India Someday can Plan Your Trip, so you end up celebrating it in the right spot.

Holi is usually celebrated in March. You can read about the weather in India in February and March.

India Someday guests enjoying an afternoon siesta post the Holi celebrations

When is Holi celebrated in India?

The Holi festivities take place over two days in late February or in March. There are no specific dates – according to the Hindu calendar, the day of Holi is the Phalgun Poornima (full moon) which generally arrives in March. The exact dates of the festival vary every year, as it is based on the Indian Lunar calendar.

In 2025, Holi is on 14 March.

In 2026, Holi is on 4 March.

In 2027, Holi is on 22 March.

The eve of Holi is Holika Dahan, celebrated with a bonfire.

In Barsana, Vrindavan and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Holi celebrations often extend over 10 days and start almost a week before the main event. There is a unique tradition, Lathmar Holi, which is celebrated 6 to 7 days before the official Holi day.

Why is Holi celebrated in India: A History of Holi

The festival of Holi is based on a mythological tale about the good God Vishnu and his rival, the evil King Hiranyakashipu – try to pronounce that! The evil king’s son Prahlad was a devotee of God Vishnu and he refused to worship his father. The king got angry, and he sent his sister Holika to kill him. Holika was granted a boon that fire couldn’t burn her, so she took Prahlad on her lap and climbed on a pyre. She knew that she would survive while her nephew would burn to death. However, when the pyre was set ablaze, miraculously, Prahlad remained untouched by the fire while Holika’s body went up in flames. This is the story of the triumph of good over evil, and Indians celebrate this sentiment every year by burning the Holi pyre one day prior to Holi.

According to another legend, the Hindu blue-skinned God Krishna was envious of the fair-skinned Radha. So he went and colored her face in an attempt to make her look like him. This was the beginning of the epic love story of Radha and Lord Krishna. This is why Holi is celebrated as a festival of love as well, and is often used in Bollywood movies during a romantic sequence.

This is also the origin of the Lathmar Holi tradition. Krishna went to Barsana to celebrate Holi with Radha and tease her friends. Annoyed by Krishna’s pranks, the women decided to take revenge and chased Krishna with sticks (lathi) as he tried to protect himself. This tradition is followed even today in Krishna’s hometown in Uttar Pradesh. The men visit the town of Barsana, where they are greeted with women holding sticks (lathis), ready to attack them. This is a playful tradition followed since decades. If you have a local guide to accompany you, they may be able to take you to see this tradition.

Some people even say Holi is a simple celebration of the end of winter and beginning of spring, a thanksgiving for a good harvest or a reason to meet friends and have fun. In fact, the festival is supposed to mark the last day of winter before spring. It is a festival quite unique to the Western world, but those who experience it truly have fun!

Holika is the immortal saga of good over evil where as Holi is a festival of mutual harmony (Photo Credit – Satish Krishnamurthy)

Where is Holi celebrated in India?

Holi is a primarily Hindu festival, but it is celebrated throughout the country. However, it is a greater deal in northern India.  Places like Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and also in the southern state of Tamil Nadu celebrate this festival with great splendor in residential areas, near temples, or in designated venues. Some tribes in the Northeast also celebrate this festival of colours. The biggest celebration happens in Mathura-Vrindavan, Pushkar and Varanasi.

The southern states do not celebrate Holi with much pomp. Also, a lot of Muslims and Buddhists in India don’t celebrate Holi. But most Indians have celebrated Holi or at least experienced it directly or indirectly in their lives.

 Also Read: When is the Best Time to Visit India?

India Someday guests posing after enjoying Holi celebrations in Udaipur

Where should you go for the best Holi experience?

We would recommend you to celebrate Holi anywhere in North India, especially in small towns and cities like Pushkar and Udaipur in Rajasthan, and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. At India Someday, these are our favorite places for experiencing Holi. Other cities where you can truly enjoy the spirit of Holi are Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Jaipur, the Pink City, is one of the best places to celebrate Holi. At Govind Dev Ji Temple, the oldest temple in the city, the celebration lasts for more than a week!

Goa is also one of the best destinations to visit for a fun, youthful Holi party. Most cities, like Mumbai and Delhi too have a lot of fun Holi celebrations. You will find many venues across India, especially in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, organizing Holi events. You will need to pre-book tickets, but these events are much safer than playing Holi out on the streets.

Mathura-Vrindavan has the biggest public celebrations and events for Holi, and it could easily get out of hand. There are many safety issues here as well, especially for women. So we would NOT recommend this!

Also, don’t forget to visit the bonfire for Holika Dahan. Most towns and cities have many small bonfires a few miles off each other. If you cannot find a pyre, you can ask the reception at your hotel or hostel, or any local guides you know, and they may be able to show you.

If you’re interested in a trip around Rajasthan to the mentioned cities and more, check on the best places in the region and different travel routes. You can also think of doing the Golden Triangle route (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur) for Holi, like most travelers. This will allow you to immerse yourself in the local celebrations while visiting the famous monuments like Taj Mahal in Agra, Red Fort in the capital city of Delhi, and Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.

You can browse through our extensive North India travel routes here for travel ideas. Or just hit the Plan You Trip button to start planning your trip to India around Holi.

See Also: Planning Your Perfect North India Getaway

Vibrant colours of Holi festival (Photo Credit – Frankspandl)

How is Holi celebrated in India?

There is a lot of excitement in the air during Holi in India, especially in the north. You will find kids and young men and women preparing for the festivities from the night before by filling water balloons and buying colors. Communities like families, friends, housing societies, temple groups, etc organize the celebrations weeks in advance.

On the eve of the color festival is Holika Dahan. Large groups of friends and families gather together and a bonfire is lit up. Families pray around the bonfire and spend time together. This fire is attempted to be kept burning for five days. You will see bonfires on every street or society during this time.

On the day of Holi, everyone crowds together to play Holi with colors. You will see people celebrating Holi out on the streets. There is often artificial rain, water guns, and loud music along with dry colors. People dance, eat street food, and drink bhang thandai. Thandai is an Indian milk beverage made with spices and dry fruits. Bhang is an edible cannabis paste. While not necessarily legal, bhaang is mixed in thandai and most adults drink it on this day.

All these celebrations mostly take place in the mornings, while the afternoons are for washing off the colors and relaxing after a fun-filled but tiring morning. It can be a bit of an effort to wash the colors off your body, and sometimes the color can remain for days. In a few other places, these celebrations carry on till night!

Often, temples and homes are adorned with flowers. In some places, there are also processions in the temples, but comparatively, Holi is not as religious as the other holy days in India, and does not have any religious rituals as such.

Read Further: Uncovering Travel Expenses in India

Look at celebrating another festival in India? Diwali is one of the biggest festivals in India and a great time to visit India.

Holi festival is the celebration of unity where everyone seems of the same colour (Photo Credit – Murtaza Ali)

Tips and precautions for celebrating Holi in India

We have a few tips for celebrating Holi in India like locals! And of course, a few precautions as well, so that you can make the most of this colorful festival.

• You will find street vendors selling colored powder from more than a week before the festival. If you see any Holi colors, buy them. It is better to stock up in advance. Avoid the permanent colored powders – they will be marked, but if you aren’t sure, ask the vendor. Use only organic colors as much as possible.
• Dress well for the Holi celebration. A lot of people wear white while celebrating Holi as a symbol of peace and to showcase the vibrant colors thrown around. You can choose to wear darker colors if you wish. Most locals simply wear old clothes that they may not have to use again.
• Use coconut oil liberally on your hair and skin before the events so that the color does not stick to your body for a longer time. Use sunglasses to shield your eyes.
• Start your Holi celebrations early in the morning, preferably before the horde of locals and Holi revelers arrives, as it can get overwhelming.
• Before throwing color on other people, keep in mind one simple rule – if they have colored powder on their body, they are fellow participants, and thus, fair game. Do not throw colored powders on innocent bystanders.
• You can try the bhang, but drink only as much as you can handle.
• Make friends at your hotel or hostel or any accommodation. Holi is safer, and so much fun, with friends and people you know. You will be among lots of crowds on this day, so stay safe. Talk to other travelers or people familiar with the local customs and traditions.
• For female travelers, there are always a few extra safety tips. Wear clothes that cover your shoulders and knees. If you are a solo female traveler, try to stick around with other travelers or people you know well. Avoid going out alone in public places since there will be many inebriated men all over the place.
• Holi is the festival of colors, yes, but you will also be drenched with buckets of water dumped on you, water guns, and even eggs sometimes! So be prepared for all of it.
• Avoid traveling long distances on this day, as city public transportation is often not available until late afternoon.
• Make sure you have travel insurance before traveling to India. It can help you in a lot of unforeseen circumstances.

Read Further: Exploring the Best of India’s Attractions

Avoid getting the colour into your eyes during the festival of colours (Photo Credit – Karan Dodia)

India Someday can help you plan a great time during the Holi Festival in India. Plan Your Trip to India with us now and we can advise you how to fit the party in.

Can’t come in March? Read here about other Indian festivals.