Udaipur and The Holli Fetival – 1 day

22nd March

… Holi is in full swing. We are hiding in the sanctuary of our hotel. Outside is mayhem. We have missed most of the morning as we have been asleep since we arrived on the night-train from Delhi. Outside the wooden, barnesque, door of our hotel we can hear squeals of laughter, screams of shock, and the wet splats of paint-bombs. Shadows from gangs of marauding imps play under the doorway. I can’t help but imagine the film The Children of The Corn everytime I hear the scamper of impish feet. I am really beginning to get scared…

We got into Udaipur at 6:30am. We shared a rickshaw to a hotel with a South African Lady. She recommended her hotel as a cheap option and we took her up on the offer. Despite our best intentions we instantly fell into slumber and did not awake until past midday. We grabbed a late breakfast and then headed out in the hot spring day and into the chaos of the festival of colours.

Holi is known as the festival of light or festival of colours. It occurs around the 22-23 March every year and marks the end of winter and beginning of spring. The festivals usually run over two days. The eve of Holi is when the demoness, Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, is burned on bonfires around the country. The next day is known as Dhulhendi. This is when people spend all day throwing coloured water at each other. There is actually a good medical reason behind all of this malarkey. Most of the dyes and pigments traditionally contain herbs and poultices that are used to stave off seasonal colds and flu that occur this time of year. All the symbolism behind the festival is indicative of the re-birth of hope, warmth, life, and all things associated with the coming of spring. Oh.. and it’s pretty good fun!!

We barely made it fifty metres before being swamped by a gang of multi-coloured kids who covered us in paint. I had heard stories about Holi that suggested people being treated roughly and women being groped. Udaipur dispelled all these myths. The spirit of the day was playful and fun. We were encouraged to cover our assailants in paint as much as they did us. It was great fun and in hindsight we should have carried on much further into town. Instead we got dragged into a Hotel bar at some point and ended up spending much of the rest of the day chatting to various people. In particular we met an Indian girl and her Husband, both living in England. She was actually a Kid’s TV presenter on an animal show in the UK. I forget the name of it. Her husband was a Doctor. We got very, very, drunk and had a hilarious afternoon. I had so much paint on me the couple thought I was naturally ginger. We then headed back home and attempted to de-Holify ourselves. There was a lot of paint to wash off. Then we staggered out and had a local meal overlooking the beautiful floating palaces in the lake.