The Braj region in Uttar Pradesh is famous for its rigorous Holi celebrations and the festival is actually played before it is played elsewhere in India.
In 2014 Holi was officially on 17th March and I went over to Vrindavan to experience the festivities first hand.

The towns of Barsana (around 30-40 km of Mathura) and Nand Gaon are famous for its Laddu-Maar Holi; in Barsana the festival is celebrated first at the Radha Rani temple and then on the streets the following day. Nand Gaon is the village of Lord Krishna and Barsana is the village of Radha Rani.

The holi festival at Vrindavan is celebrated 2 days later and the epicentre of this is at the Banke-Bihari Temple.

Holi has various legends associated with it. The foremost is the legend of demon King Hiranyakashyap who demanded everybody in his kingdom to worship him but his pious son, Prahlad became a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap wanted his son to be killed. He asked his sister Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap as Holika had a boon which made he immune to fire. Story goes that Prahlad was saved by lord himself for his extreme devotion and evil minded Holika was burnt to ashes, for her boon worked only when she entered the fire alone.

Since that time, people light a bonfire, called Holika on the eve of Holi festival and celebrate the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion to god.

Some also celebrate the death of evil minded Pootana. The ogress tried to kill Krishna as an infant by feeding it poisonous milk while executing the plan of Kansa, Krishna’s devil uncle. However, Krishna sucked her blood and brought her end. Some who view the origin of festivals from seasonal cycles believe that Pootana represents winter and her death the cessation and end of winter.

On the eve of Holi, called Chhoti or Small Holi people gather at important crossroads and light huge bonfires, the ceremony is called Holika Dahan.

There is also a tradition of consuming bhang on this day to further enhance the spirit of Holi.

vrindavan 20140316 45 small

vrindavan 20140316 2 small
Aarti on the ghats of the Yamuna river

vrindavan 20140316 6 small

vrindavan 20140316 47 small

vrindavan 20140316 44 small


vrindavan 20140316 7 small

vrindavan 20140316 38 small
Banke-Bihari Temple

vrindavan 20140316 22 small

vrindavan 20140316 16 small

vrindavan 20140316 35 small
Devotee at the temple