Holi (Fagu Purnima)

Holi, known in Nepal as Fagu Purnima, is the Hindu spring festival of colours. Its name combines the Nepali words Phagu (from Falgun, the month) and Purnima (full moon), marking the day on which the festival culminates. The festival is rooted in two principal mythological narratives, both of which frame Holi as a celebration of devotion, love and the seasonal renewal of spring over the barrenness of winter.

The first and most widely cited legend is that of Prahlad and Holika. The demon king Hiranyakashipu demanded to be worshipped as a god, but his son Prahlad remained a devoted follower of Lord Vishnu. Enraged, the king conspired with his sister Holika, who possessed a boon of immunity to fire. Holika sat in a blazing pyre with Prahlad on her lap, intending him to burn. Through Prahlad's unwavering devotion the boy emerged unharmed while Holika was consumed by the flames. This episode gives the festival its name and is commemorated through the bonfire ritual of Holika Dahan, symbolising the triumph of faith and goodness over arrogance and evil.

The second narrative, particularly associated with the playful throwing of colours, centres on Krishna and Radha. According to legend the dark-skinned young Krishna fretted that the fair Radha would not accept him; his mother Yashoda suggested he colour Radha's face to match his own. Krishna and his cowherd companions duly smeared Radha and her friends with colour, and this affectionate play is remembered each Holi through gulal (coloured powder) and water. In the Braj tradition the festival is thus celebrated as a festival of divine love, ushering in spring.

In the Kathmandu Valley the festivities formally begin roughly a week before the main day, on Falgun Shukla Ashtami (the eighth day of the bright fortnight), with the ceremonial erection of the chir at Basantapur, just south of the Gaddi Baithak within the Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square complex. The chir is a tall bamboo pole hung with brightly coloured strips of cloth; it is traditionally raised by members of the Manandhar community, who smear one another with abir (coloured powder) to announce the start of the festival. At the installation a Nepal Army contingent has customarily played ceremonial music and fired gun salutes. The standing chir signals that Holi has begun nationwide.

The night before the main day is marked by Holika Dahan, when bonfires are lit and people gather for prayers commemorating the burning of Holika. At Basantapur the chir itself is taken down and burned on the full-moon night, ritually closing the cycle that began with its erection. The burning re-enacts the destruction of Holika and the survival of devotion.

The main day is the explosion of colour for which Holi is famous. People move through their neighbourhoods exchanging gulal in shades of red, yellow, green and blue and dousing one another with coloured water. Children fling water balloons (lola) from rooftops and spray passers-by with pichkaris (water guns), while open public spaces fill with music, dancing and swirling clouds of powder. In Kathmandu the celebrations concentrate around Basantapur Durbar Square and the Thamel tourist district, where DJs, live bands and crowds of locals and foreign visitors turn the streets into a carnival; most shops close for the day. Public concerts are also a hallmark of the festival in cities including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Narayangarh, Hetauda, Itahari and Dharan.

The most distinctive feature of Nepal's Holi is that it is observed on two different days. The hill regions and the Kathmandu Valley celebrate first, on the Falgun full-moon day, while the Terai (Madhes) plains in the south celebrate the following day, aligning with Holi in neighbouring India. Because of this, the festival is often described as lasting two days at the national level even though any given community plays colours on a single main day.

Terai or Madhesi Holi is generally more traditional and community-oriented, reflecting the cultural influence of the adjoining Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Celebrations there tend to run longer and feature folk music, traditional Holi songs, group dances and a fuller spread of festival sweets. In the hills and the Valley the celebration is comparatively spontaneous and street-based, with the formal civic ritual of the chir at Basantapur giving Kathmandu's observance its particular ceremonial frame.

Among the Newar community and some others, the day also carries a devotional dimension: worship is offered at Saraswati and other shrines, and Hindus celebrate alongside friends. As in many Holi traditions, some participants consume bhang, an intoxicant made from cannabis blended with milk and spices, in their food and drink, a practice it shares with the earlier festival of Maha Shivaratri.

Holi is closely associated with sweets and rich, festive foods. The most iconic item is gujiya, a deep-fried or baked crescent-shaped pastry stuffed with sweetened khoya (dried milk), coconut and nuts; it is especially popular and carefully prepared in the Terai. Malpua, syrup-soaked fried pancakes of wheat flour and semolina, are another Terai favourite, alongside savoury dahi bhalla (lentil dumplings in spiced yoghurt). Sel roti, the ring-shaped Nepali rice-flour doughnut flavoured with cardamom or fennel, also appears at many Holi gatherings.

The signature drink of Holi is thandai, a chilled, spiced milk beverage blended with nuts and seeds; in some preparations it is laced with bhang. Cannabis-infused sweets and drinks such as bhang ladoo and bhang lassi feature in some communities, continuing a long-standing, ritualised use of cannabis at this time of year. These foods and drinks are shared among family, friends and neighbours, reinforcing the festival's themes of reconciliation and communal joy.

Holi is one of Nepal's most important nationwide festivals, ranked alongside Dashain and Tihar in cultural prominence. Symbolically it carries several intertwined meanings: the victory of good over evil and of devotion over ego through the Prahlad and Holika story; the celebration of love through the Krishna and Radha tradition; and the welcoming of spring after winter. The lighting and later burning of the chir and the Holika Dahan bonfire dramatise this renewal of light and warmth.

Socially, Holi is a great leveller. The exchange of colours dissolves everyday distinctions and is widely understood as an occasion for forgiveness, mending of relationships and open, joyful mixing across communities. The festival's inclusive, participatory spirit has made it especially welcoming to outsiders, and it has become a major draw for foreign tourists, who join the celebrations enthusiastically in Thamel and Basantapur.

In its modern form, Holi in Nepal blends deep-rooted ritual with contemporary festivity: civic ceremonies and temple worship coexist with large public concerts, DJ-driven street parties and the ubiquitous water guns and balloons. Awareness campaigns have increasingly encouraged the use of skin-safe, natural colours and mindful water use, but the essential character of the festival, colour, music and shared celebration of spring, remains unchanged.