Festival of Colours Holi Celebration in Nepal

Holi Festival Tour in Nepal (Celebrate Festival of Colours in Nepal)

What is the festival of color? What is the Holi festival?

Holi, widely known as the Festival of Colour is a Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal & India by Hindu communities and also all over the globe. Holi festival falls in the middle of the month March on the full moon day in between 20th to 25th March that marks the end of winter in Nepal & arrival of spring. Holi festival is a cheerful reminder to join the celebration of happiness, love, and friendship. This colorful festival Holi is celebrated as a Victory of Good over Bad, as well as a triumph of devotion and immoral love. Joining the festival of colors cast away the negative thoughts & bad feelings in you & creates a sense of forgiveness & gratitude. Because this festival Holi is celebrated with verities of colors, it is worldwide known as the Festival of Colours in Nepal.

The Story behind Holi Festival (History of Festival of Colours)

Holi, often referred to as the Hindu festival of colors, is a vibrant celebration that holds deep religious significance. This festival is full of religious beliefs and has a rich history behind it. Dating back to ancient Sanskrit texts, Holi is associated with many legends. The most prominent tale revolves around the demon king Hiranyakashyap, who demanded to be worshipped instead of the Gods. He ordered the death of his son Prahlad, who was devoted to Lord Vishnu, by having his sister Holika take him into a blazing fire, believing the flames could not harm her. However, Lord Vishnu intervened, saving Prahlad and turning the malevolent Holika to ash. As a result, on the eve of Holi, large bonfires called Holika are lit to symbolize the burning away of evil spirits. This significant night is marked and celebrated as Holika Dahan, reminding everyone of the triumph of good over evil.

Holi festival is also the story of immortal love of Lord Krishna and Radha; Krishna, in a mischievous mood, jealous of fairer skin of his beloved applied color to her skin. So, in Barsana the birthplace of Radha, Nandgoan, the village of Krishna and Mathura the birthplace of Krishna celebrations are spread over 16 days.

Barsana is famous as the men of Nandgaon was known as ‘gops’  raid over the temple of Radhika, by furling a flag over it, while the women fend them off with the colored water. Some dress in saris and apply cosmetics as a disguise and are made to dance, as Krishna did once by the ‘gops ‘of Barsana.

How is Holi festival celebrated in Nepal?

People celebrate this day with full happiness & excitement by gathering their loved ones, family, friends & their nearest one in a place. Collection of different verities of colors, colored water, loud music, devotional songs, and different musical instruments, verities of foods, fruits & sweets with a beautiful decoration around is done. Painting each other’s face with different colors – red, yellow, green, blue, & silver, throwing colored powder to each other’s & colored water through pistols & mini grenades at everyone in sight is done. Dancing on loud music with each other & forgetting all the bad feelings by joining the gathering of people laughing & throwing colors to the sky definitely brings happiness in you.

How long is Holi, the festival of colors celebrated in Nepal?

This festival of color is celebrated for two days. The first day is celebrated in the Hilly region of Nepal – Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Pokhara, Palpa, Gorkha & the second day of the festival Holi is celebrated mainly in the Terai region of Nepal – Janakpur, Chitwan & Lumbini.

Best Places to Celebrate Holi in Nepal (Festival of Colours In Nepal)

Kathmandu Durbar Square & Bhaktapur Durbar Square are the best locations to join the Holi festival celebration from the early morning onwards while you are in Kathmandu. If you are in Pokhara then Lakeside area is the best place to join the Holi celebration in Nepal with your friends. Whereas, Mithila in Janakpur is the best place to celebrate the Holi festival of colors.

Holi is the main festival celebrated by the peoples of Janakpur in Nepal

sacred position for Hindus. Renowned as the birthplace of goddess Sita, Janakpur was the capital city of the kingdom of Videha. King Janak, from whom the name of the city is derived, was the king of Videha and Sita was his daughter. The much read and revered Hindu epic of Ramayana chronicle the life events of Janak and Sita. As such, Janakpur attracts a huge number of Hindu devotees every year.

Holi is named as “Falgu Purnima” in Janakpur. And is celebrated on the second day of Holi festival in Nepal.

There is the tradition of celebrating Holi in Janakpur which is marked as a day after the conclusion of the 15-day Mithila Madhyamika Parikrama, a pilgrimage which takes the devotees on a journey covering 135 kilometers on foot. The Madhyamika Parikrama is considered the greatest religious ritual in Mithilanchal which is taken to be the cultural link and a symbol of friendship between Nepal and India. In Janakpur people enjoy playing Holi festival by throwing colored water to each other, painting each other face with different powder color, new dresses are bought to children, family members, relatives & friends gather together to enjoy the delicious food specially made on Holi festival named - Gujiya, rice pudding, sweets etc.. In the evening they enjoy with cultural dance, play cards, and so on.

Is there any special food for this festival? 

Gujiya is the special food made for Holi especially in Terai regions. It is deep fried dumplings made of Urad Dal & Moong Dal that are soaked in thick yogurt overnight and topped up with red chili powder & chat masala. Sweets like Rasmalai, laddus, rice pudding (kheer) are also served to the guests during Holi celebration.

If you are willing to celebrate the festival of colors in Nepal this year we are here to arrange your Holi festival of colors tour in Nepal. Combine Nepal festival tour with the festival of colors in Nepal and make a lifetime memory with us.

Festival of colors Holi tour in Nepal

Day to Day Itinerary

Day 01: Arrival at Kathmandu - Overnight in Kathmandu

Day 02: Early morning transfer to the Kathmandu Durbar Square for Holi Celebration 

 Day 03: Fly to Janakpur – transfer to Mithila for celebrating the festival of colors in Nepal.

Day 04: Fly back to Kathmandu - Overnight in Kathmandu

Day 05: Departure from Kathmandu

Do email us at [email protected] If you want to experience Nepal’s one of the most cheerful and colorful festival then you can plan your trip to Nepal either trekking in Nepal or tour in Nepal during the time of the festival of colors - Holi in the month of March.

Or reach us at +977 9840092663 through Viber/ Whats app if you are interested to celebrate the festival of colors in Nepal with us.