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Holi in Mathura
The day India drowns in color
In Braj, Holi runs for a fortnight of named events in different villages, and the most famous of them happen a week before the date the rest of India plays colour.
Where to watch
Also nearby: Barsana, Nandgaon, Gokul, Dauji (Baldeo), Phalen, Govardhan
🎟 Free viewing
- Every Braj Holi event is free and open; nothing is ticketed.
- Barsana: the Rangeeli Gali and the stepped lanes below the Radha Rani temple, for Laddu and Lathmar Holi
- Nandgaon: the lanes below Nand Bhavan on the return day
- Mathura: Vishram Ghat and the Dwarkadhish temple area, on the Holika Dahan night and the colour morning
- Baldeo: the Dauji temple courtyard for the Huranga (be there by 10:00)
🗓 Programme
Laddu Holi, Barsana
Priests and sevayats shower laddus from the temple balcony onto the crowd below; the invitation to Nandgaon to come and play Holi is formally accepted.
Shri Radha Rani (Shriji / Ladli Ji) Temple, Brahmachal Hill, Barsana
Lathmar Holi, Barsana
Men from Nandgaon, treated as Barsana's sons-in-law, arrive singing folk verses; women of Barsana answer them with long sticks while the men take the blows on leather shields. Gulal goes up in clouds over the whole lane.
The Radha Rani temple courtyard and the Rangeeli Gali below it
Lathmar Holi, Nandgaon
The reciprocal day: men of Barsana come to Nandgaon and the women of Nandgaon take up the sticks.
Nand Bhavan temple, Nandgaon (about 8 km from Barsana)
Phoolon wali Holi, Banke Bihari, Vrindavan
On Rangbhari Ekadashi the temple doors open and priests shower the crowd with marigold, rose and other petals instead of colour, through bhajan and aarti.
Shri Banke Bihari Temple, Vrindavan
Widows' Holi, Gopinath Temple, Vrindavan
Widowed women of Vrindavan play Holi with colour and flowers in the temple courtyard, a few days before Rangwali Holi. The observance was begun in 2013 by Sulabh International's founder Bindeshwar Pathak and has been held annually since.
Shri Gopinath Temple, Vrindavan
Holika Dahan
Bonfires are lit and circled; grain is offered into the flame.
Vishram Ghat and the Dwarkadhish temple area, Mathura; and neighbourhood fires everywhere in Braj
Holika Dahan
At Phalen village a man in the role of Prahlad walks through the burning Holika pyre and out the other side. He prepares for it from Basant Panchami: roughly 40 to 45 days of withdrawal and fasting beforehand.
Phalen (Falen) village, Mathura district; a separate place from Mathura and Vrindavan, roughly 40 km from Mathura town
Rangwali Holi / Dhulandi
The national Holi date. Drums, coloured water, dancing in tight circles in the temple courtyards.
Dwarkadhish Temple, Mathura; the lanes around Banke Bihari, Vrindavan
Dauji ka Huranga, Baldeo
In the Dauji temple courtyard the women tear strips from the men's clothing, twist them into whips and drive the men with them while colour is thrown in bursts.
Dauji (Baldev) Temple, Baldeo, about 30 km from Mathura