Tips to celebrate Holi for the first-timers in India

So you want to come to India for Holi?

You are most welcome.

You may have already booked your tickets, decided the place to celebrate Holi, and talked with your friends about it.

However, you need to know a few more tips to celebrate Holi for the first time in India, especially North India. If you are in South India, you may want to go to Hampi or Mumbai for the similar pomp and show for Holi like North India. Holi is not a psychedelic music party, but a traditional Hindu festival with customs, traditional food, and fun.

Where to go

You don’t really need to change your itinerary because of Holi because you will find the celebration almost all over India. If you are in Uttar Pradesh, you may go to Barsana where there is a tradition of women mock-beating the men with a stick called lathh. That is why; the Barsana version of Holi is called the lathhmaar Holi. If you are in Himachal Pradesh or Uttrakhand, you may hire Self-Drive Cars in Dehradun to celebrate Kumaon Holi, a local musical celebration. If you want to go to Mathura or Vrindavan, you better take along someone for guidance and safety.

If you are a solo female traveller, you need to know that several antisocial men roam in the streets on this day. They do grope single women thinking that they can get away with it because no one can recognize them because of the colour on their faces. It is better that you make friends in your hostel or hotel before the festival, and venture out with them in groups. Indians are super-friendly in taking around their foreigner friends to show the festival celebrations.

What to wear

You are going to be smeared with a lot of dry and wet color, so you must wear your oldest clothes that you can discard immediately after Holi. Even if you try to wash them, you cannot get rid of the color. You may have seen people wearing white cotton clothes in the movies, but you must not wear white clothes because they become translucent just when they become wet. While you may receive a lot of attention in Europe or other westernized countries, you will receive a lot of negative attention in India because of those white clothes stuck on the body. You may rather want to wear cotton mixed synthetic clothes that you can easily discard after the Holi.

Additional tips

• You must apply lots of oil on your skin and hair to protect them from harmful chemicals in the colors.
• Don’t carry your valuables at all, but if you want to carry your phone and money, you can carry them in a waterproof pouch.
• Don’t get shocked at seeing people throwing things other than colors such as eggs, grease, dirt, etc. They take Holi a notch higher just to make it memorable for everyone.
• Don’t drink thandai or bhang in the form of pakodas or lassi if you cannot handle your intoxicated self in public.

Holi can be fun and annoying at the same time when people attack you with colors and water balloons. Enjoy your day and be safe!