The story of Holi, and why we follow it west
Every child in Rajasthan knows the story. The demon king Hiranyakashipu wanted his son Prahlad to worship him instead of Vishnu. When the boy refused, the king's sister Holika, who could not be burnt, sat with him in a fire. The fire consumed Holika and spared Prahlad.
Holika Dahan: on the evening of the full moon of Phalgun, every town and village lights a bonfire to remember Prahlad. Families walk around the flames and roast green wheat and chickpeas in them.
Dhulandi: the next morning, the day of colour.
- Nights
- Nine: Bharatpur 2, Jaipur 3, Udaipur 4
- Pace
- Festival days, then rest days, never two crowds in a row
- Best months
- The Phalgun full moon, late February or March
- Good for
- Holi's joy without its chaos
- Starts
- Delhi airport
- Ends
- Udaipur, by air
- The colour belongs to Krishna: in Braj, the country of his childhood along the Yamuna, the dark-skinned boy from Nandgaon envied fair Radha of Barsana and smeared her face with colour.
- Chased with sticks: her friends drove him off. Braj has re-enacted that raid every spring for centuries, and its Holi runs for days before the full moon.
- Why we start in Braj: it lies just over the border from Rajasthan, and it is where Holi is wildest.
- Krishna moves west: Rajasthan's royal houses carried Krishna's images west to Jaipur and Nathdwara in the seventeenth century, and have always kept Holi close. We travel west as the deities did.
- Jaipur, the days of anticipation: bazaars piled with gulal, coloured powder, sweet shops frying gujiya, and the temple of Govind Dev Ji, the city's most loved Krishna, full of spring songs.
- Udaipur, the night itself: the former royal household of Mewar lights its own Holika Dahan in the City Palace, and local families crowd in to watch.
- The morning after: a private courtyard and a gentle hour of colour.
- Joyful, and wild: some men in the crowds behave badly, especially towards women, and some colours sold in the street are harsh chemicals.
- How we design around it: rooftops rather than lanes, our own team around you, natural colours and a palace pool to wash it all off.
- The customs in detail: our Holi festival page.
Day by day, from Braj to the lakes
- Delhi to Bharatpur
- About 190 km, four to five hours
- Bharatpur to Barsana
- About an hour and a half
- Bharatpur to Jaipur
- About 185 km, three and a half to four hours
- Jaipur to Udaipur
- An hour by air, or six hours by road
- Agra to Barsana
- About two hours
Day 1: Delhi to Bharatpur
Met at Delhi airport: we drive you south to Bharatpur, the old Jat capital, about four to five hours by road.
- Laxmi Vilas Palace: check in to a royal family palace on the edge of town, now a heritage hotel, and rest.
- Keoladeo by cycle rickshaw: in the last light, ride into the famous wetland with a naturalist.
- Late in the bird season: but the resident storks, kingfishers and the last of the winter migrants make a peaceful first evening.
Day 2: Barsana and the Holi of the sticks
Leave very early: for Barsana, Radha's hill village, about an hour and a half away.
Laddoo Holi: depending on the year's calendar, the Shriji temple on the hilltop showers the crowd with sweets.
- Lathmar Holi: or the men of Nandgaon arrive with leather shields and songs, and the women of Barsana rain blows on them with lathis, long bamboo staves, amid clouds of colour.
- From a rooftop: we watch from a rooftop or balcony arranged with a local family, reached before the crowds build, with our team around you all day.
- Never in the thick of it: women travellers stay with our team at all times, and we never take guests into the crowd.
- Back to Bharatpur: for a long bath and a quiet dinner.
- Every event explained: our Mathura and Vrindavan guide covers the whole Braj Holi.
Day 3: Deeg, then the road to Jaipur
The return match: on the morning after Lathmar Holi the roles reverse in Nandgaon, and keen guests can go back to watch.
- Or the water palaces of Deeg: the Jat rulers' summer retreat, where hundreds of fountains are set into the gardens and pavilions. Most guests prefer this gentler morning.
- Coloured fountains: on a few festival days around Holi they are switched on with coloured water, and we check the year's plan for you.
- West to Jaipur: after lunch, about three and a half to four hours, to settle into your palace hotel.
Days 4-5: Jaipur in the week before Holi
Amber at opening time: reach Amber Fort as the gates open.
The bazaars: walk the walled city with a guide who grew up in it. In the week before Holi the stalls are piled with gulal in every colour.
- Gulal gota: on Maniharon ka Rasta the lac-workers make thin balls of lac filled with coloured powder that burst softly when thrown, a Jaipur speciality from the days of the royal court. Buy a box.
- Gujiya: stop for the sweet fried dumplings of Holi at a halwai's counter.
- Bagru or the garden: spend the next morning with a block-printing family in Bagru, or simply in the palace garden.
- The City Palace: a private tour of the City Palace in the late afternoon.
- Govind Dev Ji: walk on to the temple in the palace garden, where the evening worship in Phalgun is full of spring songs.
- Dinner: on a rooftop facing Hawa Mahal.
Day 6: fly to Udaipur
An hour in the air: the flight saves six hours on the road.
- By the lake: check in and rest.
- Sunset boat: cross Lake Pichola to Jag Mandir, and watch the City Palace turn gold above the water.
Day 7: Udaipur, the city of the Maharanas
The City Palace: spend the morning in the City Palace with a private guide.
- Holi on the walls: look for the court paintings of the Maharana at Holi, sprayed with coloured water by his courtiers, in the very courtyards you are standing in.
- On the way down: the Jagdish temple, then the old lanes to Gangaur Ghat.
- Evening: the folk dance programme at Bagore ki Haveli.
Day 8: the night of the bonfires
A slow day: a late breakfast, then Saheliyon ki Bari, the garden of the maids of honour, in the cool of the morning.
The afternoon: at the spa.
- Growing piles: across the city, wood and cow-dung cakes have been heaped at every crossroads for days.
- The royal bonfire: on the evening of the full moon, the former royal household keeps its own Holika Dahan in Manak Chowk at the City Palace, and local families crowd in to watch. We take you with a guide.
- The neighbourhood fires: afterwards, walk past them in the old city, where families circle the flames and toss in wheat ears for luck.
Day 9: Dhulandi, the day of colour
A private courtyard: street Holi in Udaipur can be rowdy, so we arrange a family Holi instead.
What's there: natural colours, gulal gota from Jaipur, a drummer, homemade sweets and cold thandai, the spiced milk of Holi, made without bhang unless you ask.
- As long as you like: play for an hour or the whole morning.
- By midday: the city is washing, and so are you.
- The evening: after a long rest the streets are calm, and families are out in clean white clothes, visiting relatives with plates of sweets.
- Ambrai Ghat: end there as the lights come on across the water.
Day 10: departure, and the start of Gangaur
Gauri's worship begins: on the morning after Holi, the women of Mewar begin the worship that ends about eighteen days later in the Gangaur processions at Gangaur Ghat.
- On the way to the airport: you may see the first small clay images in the lanes.
- Then the airport: fly home, or onwards.
Where you'll stay, and the alternatives
Bharatpur: Laxmi Vilas Palace
What it is: a royal family palace on the edge of town, now a heritage hotel, with a heritage wing of courtyards and old rooms and a newer wing.
- Modest, but well placed: Bharatpur's stays are simpler than Jaipur's, but its closeness to Barsana is what matters for the Braj days.
- More polish: we can base you at The Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra, about two hours from Barsana, and add the Taj Mahal at sunrise.
Jaipur: a palace with a garden
Our first choice: Rambagh Palace, with its lawns, peacocks and a sense of space the walled city cannot give.
- Calmer still: The Oberoi Rajvilas.
- To hear the songs: Samode Haveli puts you inside the old city.
- Compare them: our guide to luxury hotels in Jaipur.
Udaipur: on or by the lake
Inside the City Palace: Shiv Niwas Palace and Fateh Prakash Palace.
- The most romantic retreat: the Taj Lake Palace, on its island, on the day of colour.
- Gardens for a private Holi: The Oberoi Udaivilas and The Leela Palace Udaipur.
In a village or a haveli instead
- A village Holi: a fort hotel such as Deogarh Mahal or a heritage haveli in the painted towns lets you celebrate with the family who own the house.
- The options: our guide to heritage havelis.
When to go, and how the lunar calendar shapes the week
The full moon of Phalgun: Holi falls on it, usually in late February or March.
Braj goes first: Laddoo Holi and Lathmar Holi fall several days before, followed by the Nandgaon return match and the flower and colour celebrations at Banke Bihari in Vrindavan on Rangbhari Ekadashi.
- Holi
- Full moon of Phalgun
- Usually
- Late February or March
- Braj events
- Several days before the full moon
- Rangbhari Ekadashi
- Flowers and colour at Banke Bihari
- Gangaur
- Begins the day after, ends about 18 days later
- Book hotels
- Several months ahead
- Shifting dates: each event has its own lunar date, and the gap between them can change by a day from one year to the next.
- We confirm the dates each year: as soon as the temple calendars are published, and fix your nights around them.
- The weather: warm days, often in the high twenties or low thirties by the end of March, and soft evenings.
- Mornings: still cool enough for a light layer.
- Busy: Indian families travel for the holiday to Udaipur and Jaipur, so book hotels several months ahead.
Gangaur and the Mewar Festival
Gangaur: begins the day after Holi and ends about eighteen days later with processions to the lakes.
- In Udaipur: it coincides with the spring Mewar Festival, when boats and music fill Lake Pichola.
- Stay on: or come back for it.
The chang nights of Shekhawati
- For weeks before Holi: the men of the painted towns gather in the squares after dark to beat the chang drum and dance.
- Timed to catch them: our painted towns of Shekhawati journey.
The sweets, songs and rituals of Holi week
Gujiya: the sweet of the festival. Half-moons of pastry filled with mawa, milk cooked down until thick and sweet, mixed with nuts and cardamom, fried and sometimes dipped in syrup.
By the hundred: families make them and send plates to relatives and neighbours.
Alongside: malpua, dahi bada, lentil dumplings soaked in yoghurt, and crisp savoury snacks for the guests who arrive all afternoon.
- Thandai: the cold drink of Holi, milk blended with almonds, fennel, melon seeds, rose and black pepper.
- Always ask: in some homes and stalls thandai is laced with bhang.
- Phag: in the weeks of Phalgun, Rajasthan sings these spring songs of Holi, many of them about Krishna and Radha.
- The chang: in the villages men play the big frame drum, held up on one hand and struck with the other.
- Rasiya: in Braj the temple musicians sing playful songs that tease and flirt, and the crowd sings back.
- Worshipping the pile: on bonfire night, women wind raw cotton thread around the wood in the afternoon and offer water, turmeric and grain.
- After dark: the fire is lit, families walk around it, and farmers roast the first green ears of wheat and chickpeas in the flames and share them for luck.
- A harvest festival too: Holi marks the ripening of the winter crops.
- Embers home: some families carry them to light their own hearths.
- Read more: our Rajasthani sweets guide and religion and temples page.
How to enjoy Holi, and stay comfortable
Clothes: wear old cotton you are happy to throw away. White shows the colour best. Bring a spare set in a bag.
Oil first: rub coconut or mustard oil into your hair and skin before you play. The colour washes off far more easily.
Natural colours: use them and gulal, which we provide. Avoid the bright pastes and metallic powders sold in the street, which can irritate skin and eyes.
- Wear
- Old white cotton, a spare set
- Skin and hair
- Coconut or mustard oil first
- Colours
- Natural gulal, which we provide
- Phone
- Sealed in a plastic pouch
- Valuables
- In the hotel safe
- Eyes and mouth: wear sunglasses, and keep your mouth closed when someone approaches with a fistful of powder.
- Phone and jewellery: seal your phone in a plastic pouch, and leave jewellery and watches in the hotel safe.
- Bhang: be careful with the cannabis preparation mixed into some thandai and sweets at Holi. It is strong and slow to act. Ours is made without it unless you ask.
- Women travellers: play only in private gatherings or with our team. In the streets, some men use the festival as an excuse for unwanted touching.
- More advice: our page for women travellers.
- The words: say Holi hai, it's Holi, when you throw colour, and bura na mano, don't take offence, if you get carried away. Everyone will laugh.
Make it yours
Shorter, in five nights
- Skip Braj: two nights in Jaipur and three in Udaipur, timed for Holika Dahan and the day of colour.
- What you lose: the wildest Holi in India, which some guests are relieved to do.
All in Braj
For devotees and the very curious: spend the whole week there.
- The events: Lathmar Holi at Barsana and Nandgaon, the flowers at Banke Bihari in Vrindavan, and the Huranga at the Dauji temple in Baldeo the day after Holi.
- Honest note: it is intense and extraordinary, and the hotels are simple.
- Then rest: finish with two nights in Agra.
For families
What children adore: Holi in a private courtyard, with water pistols, gentle colours and sweets.
- Braj from a rooftop: only with older children, or skip it.
- Pacing the days: our family journeys and our guide to travelling with children.
For couples
- The Lake Palace: end at Taj Lake Palace and play Holi in its courtyard, then spend the afternoon on the water.
- Around the festival: our honeymoon journeys can be shaped to it.
For repeat visitors
- Holi in a village: a night at a fort hotel in the countryside of Mewar or Shekhawati lets you join the family's own Holika Dahan and play colour with the village children.
- Krishna's trail: follow it on to Nathdwara on our sacred Rajasthan journey.
Holi in Pushkar
Great energy: Pushkar celebrates with music and colour, and it is not for the shy.
- Only in a hotel: we take guests only to a hotel celebration there, with our team.
- Read first: our Pushkar guide.
How we look after you
Met and driven: we meet you at Delhi airport, with a private car and chauffeur throughout, and fly you from Jaipur to Udaipur to save the long road.
In Braj: a team of local guides stays with you all day, and we arrange your rooftop with a local family in advance.
- In Udaipur: a guide takes you to the royal Holika Dahan, and we arrange the private courtyard Holi with natural colours, sweets and a drummer.
- On the days of colour: your chauffeur keeps clean towels and spare clothes in the car, and we choose routes that avoid the rowdiest streets.
- Your planner on WhatsApp: throughout, and we confirm every event's date as soon as the calendars are published.
- No published prices: Holi falls on different dates each year and your choices shape everything, so we quote after one conversation.
Who will love it, and who should choose another journey
You'll love it if: you enjoy music, celebration and a little chaos, and are happy to get covered in colour.
Understanding, not just photographing: the journey is built for travellers who want to understand a festival.
- Love it
- Music, celebration, a little chaos
- Braj days
- Devotion at full volume
- Udaipur days
- Join in gently
- Think twice
- If you dislike crowds or mess
- Two speeds: the Braj days show you devotion at full volume, and the Udaipur days let you join in gently.
- You may not enjoy it if: you dislike crowds or mess, or want the monuments at their quietest.
- Holiday crowds: Holi week brings Indian families to Jaipur and Udaipur, and the day of colour closes much of the city until the afternoon.
- A calmer February: choose Rajasthan for Two or Golden Triangle and Udaipur instead.
- What you'd be missing: read our Holi in Udaipur piece.
