Enjoying Holi at Kathmandu Durbar Square
The Holi festival was supposed to be one of the highlights of the visit to Nepal and it really was. The whole city stops for one day to celebrate this Hindu festival to say goodbye to the Winter and welcome to the Spring. Even if it was still a bit cold, the experience of being in Durbar Square surrounded by thousands of happy Nepalis and having the face totally painted with colorful powder was amazing! An entire day of celebration, of saying 'Happy Holi!' to everyone and ending up covered by dozens of different colors made our day!
We had the 5th of March as a special day in the calendar. It was the annual Holi festival day in the Hindu countries and we didn't want to miss it. So we took another painful bus from Chitwan National Park back to Kathmandu, stayed at the same hostel we were the first time and prepared to enjoy a day of total celebration.
The Holi takes place once a year among the Hindu community, especially in India and Nepal, although you can enjoy the Holi in some other places of the world. It celebrates the end of Winter and the coming of the Spring and a lot of different celebrations take place, like sacrificing buffalos, having special meals... but the most famous one and the one we wanted to live is the tradition of buying colorful powder and painting the faces of people you meet saying 'Happy Holi!'.
A street vendor selling the famous powder.
So the day we arrived in Kathmandu (one day before Holi), we went to look for some cheap second hand clothes and also for some bags of colorful powder. They were aleady selling these bags almost everywhere, and the choice of colors was vast. We decided to buy 4 small bags and see how was the situation, as we didn't know exactly how much powder we would need. And the clothes, as you get covered with the colorful powder, it's better to just throw them away after Holi. We found a shop where we could buy a shirt and pants for some 2 USD, exactly what we were looking for.
The following morning, with our brand new clothes and our powder bags we woke up and asked the people at the hostel what was going on. They told us to go to Durbar Square, the place where people gather to celebrate. At that time of the day there was still nothing going on, it looked like a normal day, so we just had breakfast and went out. The first unusual thing we noticed was in the temple next to the hostel. There was a few people outside it and a water buffalo tied there. We asked around and they told us they were sacrificing the buffalo that day (besides offering me a teaching job in Kathmandu which I nicely refused). It would still take quite a long time to see the sacrifice, so we just left the place and walked towards Durbar Square.
The following morning, with our brand new clothes and our powder bags we woke up and asked the people at the hostel what was going on. They told us to go to Durbar Square, the place where people gather to celebrate. At that time of the day there was still nothing going on, it looked like a normal day, so we just had breakfast and went out. The first unusual thing we noticed was in the temple next to the hostel. There was a few people outside it and a water buffalo tied there. We asked around and they told us they were sacrificing the buffalo that day (besides offering me a teaching job in Kathmandu which I nicely refused). It would still take quite a long time to see the sacrifice, so we just left the place and walked towards Durbar Square.
Durbar Square during Holi.
Here we started noting that it was not a normal day. The streets were quite empty and the shops were closed, with the exception of some street vendors selling the colorful powder. But still no painted people, until just by accident we met the French couple we had first met in Trabzon (Turkey) and then in Yazd (Iran). It was quite a big surprise meeting them again in Kathmandu! And they were already with their faces covered with all kind of colors! We talked a bit and they confirmed us that the place to be was Durbar Square, so there we went.
And on the way to Durbar it was when we first got our face powdered! Being tourists, all Nepali people are waving to you and so on normally, so during Holi we were even more attractive to them. We met a group of young boys who were carrying bags full of powder and who politely asked us if they could paint our faces (it was quite surprising, I was expecting that they would just throw powder to you but they first asked, probably because we had no color at all, yet). We of course agreed and with the first "Happy Holi!" we painted each others' faces. That was the official start of our Holi!
And on the way to Durbar it was when we first got our face powdered! Being tourists, all Nepali people are waving to you and so on normally, so during Holi we were even more attractive to them. We met a group of young boys who were carrying bags full of powder and who politely asked us if they could paint our faces (it was quite surprising, I was expecting that they would just throw powder to you but they first asked, probably because we had no color at all, yet). We of course agreed and with the first "Happy Holi!" we painted each others' faces. That was the official start of our Holi!
From that moment on, it was just a matter of a few minutes to have our faces totally painted. As we were getting closer to Durbar Square we started meeting more and more people, both locals and foreigners, all of them with their powder bags and already fully painted. And it was all the time like this: "Happy Holi, Happy Holi!" and you painted the face of the guys and viceversa. There's also the tradition (quite new, I think) of throwing water from the balconies and also from the street using water pistols. Of course, we got also wet, which was not as funny as getting painted due to the cold, but still it was not that bad and we also had fun with the water.
Finally we reached Durbar Square already with a hundred-color face and what we saw there was crazy. The square was literally full of people and they had two big stages where a Dj was entertaining the crowds with music. It was like a big party with people dancing, drinking, taking pictures, recording... crazy.
Finally we reached Durbar Square already with a hundred-color face and what we saw there was crazy. The square was literally full of people and they had two big stages where a Dj was entertaining the crowds with music. It was like a big party with people dancing, drinking, taking pictures, recording... crazy.
Crazy Holi party at Durbar Square!
We joined the crowds, we danced, we drank and we threw powder all around. At some point our skin was totally invisible, just colors. And it went like this the rest of the day. We went from one stage to the other, stopping for a beer sitting on the stairs of the temples, watching the locals throwing powder to foreigners, hearing "Happy Holi!" everywhere and enjoying the party till the end. The end came around 4 in the afternoon, when the concerts finished and people went home to get dressed nicely and prepare to spend time with their families.
We then just went back slowly to our hostel, seeing on the way plenty of people (especially foreigners) covered with thousands of colors. A quick snack and back to the hostel to have a good and long shower. It's not really easy to wash your face and hair when they are covered by powder!
We then just went back slowly to our hostel, seeing on the way plenty of people (especially foreigners) covered with thousands of colors. A quick snack and back to the hostel to have a good and long shower. It's not really easy to wash your face and hair when they are covered by powder!
Nepali children celebrating Holi
After the shower and after that day. we can now say that we have experienced one of the most important Hindu festivals from inside, and the experience was better than expected. Seeing the crowds go crazy at Durbar Square was something special, as it was seeing everyone on the street painted with different colors. Besides, the party and everything was really good, not even a single problem as you could expect when there are thousands of people in one place. Nepali people were really nice and we had a really great experience with them!
Happy Holi!
For more picrtures of the Holi Festival, you can check my Nepal Picture Gallery.
Happy Holi!
For more picrtures of the Holi Festival, you can check my Nepal Picture Gallery.
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