Attending the Second Day of the Holi Festival at Nandgaon

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Before this trip, I had never heard of Nandgaon; according to Hindu mythology, Nandgaon is the birthplace of Lord Khrisna, one of the most revered deities in Hinduism. The town is known for its beautiful temples, narrow lanes and traditional houses. Holi is a Hindu festival of colors, joy, and happiness, and is celebrated on the full moon day in the Hindu month of Phalguna.

The Holi celebrations in Nandgaon are unique in many ways, and unlike other parts of India, where Holi is celebrated with throwing of colored powder and water, the celebration in Nandgaon are entered around the Lathmar Holi. In this tradition, women from Barsana visited Nandgaon and carried sticks, and played beating the men, who covered themselves using shields.

The Lathmar Holi is a symbolic representation of the playful and flirtatious relationship between Lord Khrisna and his beloved Radha. According to the legend, Lord Khrisna used to visit Barsana to play Holi with Radha and her friends. The women of Barsana would chase him away with sticks, and he would return with his friends to play Holi again. The tradition of Lathmar Holi is a reenactmet of this playful relationship between Lord Khrisna and Radha.

Attending the Holi Festival in Nandgaon was no where near what I had experienced the day before (refer to my earlier blog on Attending the Holi Festival at Vrindavan). This time, the ten of us – all foreigners - were not being targeted by kids with their watergun and powder. We were able to walk leisurely heading towards the temple. Once we arrived at the temple, we headed straight to the second floor, where lines of photographers had secured their spot – as early as 6 am to get the best view of the festival.

The second floors were restricted area, solely for photographers, so we were able to roam around freely without any distraction. The only poor person in our group was my roommate, Fitri, who constantly being targeted because of her fair skin. By noon, she was covered in color from head to toe, while I remained clean even though I sat next to her throughout the event.

The wait from morning to the festival felt endless, but manageable. Similar to the day earlier, we were told that there would not be any toilet in the temple, so we had to manage our water intake. This time, we received better treatment as the policemen who were guarding the area allowed us to sit under the shade of a gazebo located at the corner. A few of us, who were brave enough, went downstairs to capture the activities up close. Indeed, with all the colors, colorful outfit, this was a heaven for photographers.

From the second floor, we could see the activities in the village below where children preparing themselves with gallons of water, awaiting on the roof for their target below. We could also see the beautiful sight of the small town and activities of the people doing their daily chores. I spot a few monkeys jumping from one roof to the other.

After waiting for 5 hours, the festival finally started at 4:30 when a group of priests coming from Barsana, Radha’s village, arrived in orange attire and started the event. It was an event that was worth attending in person, and from our spot, we had the luxury of witnessing the grand ceremony of holi festival. All kind of colored powder being thrown in the air, a perfect moment for photographers to capture the image, while the loud sound of drumbeat echoing the arena.

Only then, I realized how lucky I was to be able to attend this joyful celebration of the holi festival in person. It's the atmosphere of joy and happiness, indeed! If you wish to attend the Holi Festival, I'd recommend that you attend the one in Nandgaon as it was a unique and fascinating experience. We came out of the festival with big green our face as we had tons of beautiful memory and photographs!

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