A Very Happy Holi

Celebrating Holi in Nepal will go down as one of the most memorable days of my life.

Morning Holi celebration on the volunteer house rooftop

Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, is a national holiday and celebrated throughout Nepal. It is a day that brings together people of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities (in our case) to celebrate with family and friends.

We began the day on the rooftop of our volunteer house, loading up water guns and mixing dye in old water bottles. Meena and Ram Dai joined in and were like little kids playing with a sprinkler. They were so excited to be a part of the celebration and Ram Dai confiscated one of the water guns and water bottles and proceeded to soak everyone.

People on nearby houses were celebrating on their rooftops as well, and would occasionally launch water balloons at unsuspecting pedestrians or at neighboring houses. Our rooftop preparation turned into an all-out water fight, so by the time we were ready to go, the other volunteers and I were already soaked and our white clothing was splattered with green, yellow, red, pink, purple, and blue dye.

Me, Joanne, Agatha, and Danielle paused between attacks

As we walked to Durbar Square, the central square in Kathmandu where a huge annual Holi celebration takes place, we quickly realized that as four foreign girls wearing white, we were like a walking target. First came the water balloons from various children on the street, some with colored dye and some just water. These came in the form of various attacks from street ambushes to rooftop launches and, probably our least favorite, the occasional kamikaze who would just come running at you and then slam a balloon on your back. And just when we thought we were safe, we would look up only to dodge buckets of water poured down on us from the windows and rooftops above.

Holi celebration in Kathmandu's Durbar Square

Although we were definitely surprised by the aggressiveness of the color warfare, I have to admit that we were not completely innocent. We toted water guns and water bottles filled with dye, and once those ran out we poured dye onto our hands to reciprocate the beloved dye-in-the-face method that the Nepalis seem to enjoy so much. There was even an older Nepali man who came up to us asking if we had any water because he got dye in his eye. As one of the other volunteers reached out to give him a water he grabbed the bottle and poured it all over her head. Once you decide to participate in Nepal’s Holi color war, there is no mercy.

Kids celebrate Holi in Durbar Square on shoulders 

When we finally arrived at Durbar Square—by this time soaked from head to toe and covered with dye in more places on our bodi
es than we had ever wanted—we joined the massive crowd gathered dancing to music with a bass that shook the ground. We were surrounded by young Nepalis and other foreigners losing themselves in the Holi celebration. On this one day it felt like we were all one as we came together to dance and celebrate in the square surrounded by ancient Hindu temples.

Holi in Patan's Durbar Square

Throughout the day as we walked down the streets people would shout “Happy Holi!” The holiday really allowed us to transcend beyond our usual role as foreigners and interact with the Nepalis on the street. Older people would look at us and laugh or smile, while the children would run up to ask us for dye only to then smear it in our faces. We realized we had become a sort of spectacle when, ironically, Nepalis would stop us to ask to take our picture.

It was definitely a very Happy Holi.