Holi Mackerel!

Holi Mackerel!
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Team Nepalorama

Holi – The Festival of Colours

Those of you that know me, know I use this phrase a lot! So I’ve been waiting a while to write a blog called ‘Holi Mackerel’ to celebrate the Holi festival in Nepal! I spent Holi – the famous festival of colours – in  Pokhara five years ago. It was amazing! I’d seen colourful photos of this special day, but never thought I’d actually experience it! I put on some old clothes and protected my valuables, not really knowing what to expect. I left my guest house feeling excited but anxious!

Morning of the Festival of Holi 225x300 1

Celebrating the Arrival of Spring, and Overcoming Evil!

color and holi festival in nepal

I’m not so keen on the winter months, even if they’re relatively mild in the lowlands of Nepal. So, celebrating the arrival of spring is right up my street!

The Hindu spring festival of Holi also represents the victory of good overcoming evil – bravo! (As well as several other Hindu mythologies).

The festival begins the night before when bonfires are lit to destroy evil. The following day, people take to the streets to celebrate good overcoming evil. Everyone is fair game. Refreshingly – caste, status and other society divides are forgotten during this festival. Now that’s good overcoming evil in my book!

What to Expect

Celebrating Holi 5

The streets fill with people throwing multi-coloured powder at each other. You can buy it from one of many sellers on the street. Water is used too, in water balloons, water pistols and worse! I actually got a whole bucket of water dumped on me! Every time I saw my reflection that day, I was a different colour! It was an amazing and liberating experience, and a whole lot of fun that I would highly recommend!

If you’re lucky enough to celebrate the Holi festival in Nepal or India, you’ll want to take photos of the madness and incredible colour everywhere. My advice is to take a cheap camera or make sure it’s well covered with plastic to protect it.

Above all, let go and enjoy the fun! Happy Holi everyone!

Nameste from krishna

Krishna is the Managing Director of our unique Nepal trekking company – Nepalorama Trekking. He has over 20 years of trekking experience in Nepal and has been guiding treks since 2010. He’s well known for his warm sense of humour and cheeky smile. Nepalis are understandably proud of their beautiful country and Krishna is no exception!

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