These unique natural holi colors come in the form of a gel which makes them very light giving a cool sensation on the skin. They are non-toxic which makes them extremely skin, hair and eye friendly. Its very easy to remove too. Just use a wet wipe or a wet cloth and wipe hence saving water. Whats better is that these eco-friendly colors are very safe for kids and babies too. Have a Carefree Holi!.

Includes set of 3 colours : Gold, Silver and Copper.

These unique natural holi colors come in the form of a gel which makes them very light giving a cool sensation on the skin. They are non-toxic which makes them extremely skin, hair and eye friendly. Its very easy to remove too. Just use a wet wipe or a wet cloth and wipe hence saving water. Whats better is that these eco-friendly colors are very safe for kids and babies too. Have a Carefree Holi!.

Includes set of 4 colours : Pink, Orange, Yellow and Violet.

These unique natural holi colors come in the form of a gel which makes them very light giving a cool sensation on the skin. They are non-toxic which makes them extremely skin, hair and eye friendly. Its very easy to remove too. Just use a wet wipe or a wet cloth and wipe hence saving water. Whats better is that these eco-friendly colors are very safe for kids and babies too. Have a Carefree Holi!.

Includes set of 4 colours : Red,Blue,Green,Black.

Everyone will enjoy eating tasty and mouth-watering foods on festival Holi in 2012.Make your Holi 2012 complete by wishing your relatives, friends or close people with sweet SMS.

Want to know the meaning of Holi and find out when it’s held each year? The answers are in this Holi Festival Guide.

1. Mathura and Vrindavan: Traditional Holi

Sri Krishna Janmastham
Holi festival celebrations last for 40 days in the temple towns of Mathura and Vrindavan, four hours from Delhi. Mathura is where Lord Krishna was born, while Vrindavan was where he spent his childhood. During the 40 days prior to the main Holi day, dancers from various parts of India gather to put on shows depicting Krishna’s flirtations with the village maidens. Singing troupes perform Holi folk songs as well. Make sure you arrive well before the main Holi day. The Sri Krishna Janmastham in Mathura holds a renowned show in the week before Holi. The five day celebrations at Shri Banke Bihari Mandir in Vrindavan are also legendary.

2. Delhi: Modern Holi

Holi Cow
Holi tends to be a rowdy affair in Delhi. If you’re staying anywhere near Paharganj, be prepared to be covered in color by shopkeepers and children alike if you step outside. If you can, try and get tickets to the Holi Cow festival. A festival of color, music and madness, it’s is held a short distance outside the city. The environment is safe, and non-toxic colors are provided, along with bhang lassis, street food, and sprinklers to get everyone in the mood. Both DJs and bands perform. Plenty of expats, as well as locals, attend.

3. Shantiniketan, West Bengal: Cultural Holi

bengalnewz.com
The celebration of Holi as Vasanta Utsav (Spring Festival) in Shantiniketan was started by famous Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Inspired by spring and the colors of Holi, he introduced the occasion as an annual event in his Vishva Bharati University there. Students dress up in spring colors and put on a huge cultural program for visitors, including dances to Tagore’s songs. This is followed by the usual throwing of colors. Vasanta Utsav has become a cherished part of Bengali history and culture, and it attracts numerous foreign tourists. Note that festivities happen a day earlier than the given date for Holi in other parts of India.

4. Purulia, West Bengal: Folk Holi

banglanatak.com
A three day folk festival takes place in the Purulia district of West Bengal. It runs in the lead up to Holi and on the actual day. You’ll get to sing and play Holi with the locals, as well as enjoy a wide variety of unique folk art. This includes the remarkable Chau dance, Darbari Jhumur, Natua dance, and songs of West Bengal’s wandering Baul musicians. What makes the festival special is that it’s organized by villagers as a way of helping sustain themselves. The location is around 5-6 hours by train from Kolkata, or transport in private vehicles can be arranged. Accommodation is provided in tents and there are portable toilets as well.

5. Jaipur: Holi and Elephants

www.flickr.com user Pondspider.
An elephant festival kicks off Holi celebrations in Jaipur every year on Holi eve. Elephant parades, elephant beauty contests, folk dances, and tug-of-war between elephants, locals and foreigners are all regular events. It makes Holi extra fun!

6. Banswara: Tribal Holi

http://banswara.nic.in
Holi is the main festival of the tribals in the Banswara district of Rajasthan. They wear their traditional dresses, carry swords and sticks, and perform the Gair dance. It’s a typical tribal dance of the region. To get there, the nearest airport is in Udaipur, around 165 kilometers away. Alternatively, there’s a railway station at Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh), around 80 kilometers away. More travel information, including maps and hotels, is available on the local government wesbiste.

7. Where not to Celebrate Holi: South India
If you’re looking for an exhuberant Holi, give south India a miss. In the south, the festival is quite solemn and subdued. The focus is mainly on religious aspects and temple rites.

Vrindavan Holi

Holi of this place can’t be forgotten even if you try forgetting it. In Vrindavan, Holi celebration starts from Ekadashi itself. Celebration of Holi, starts in all temples of Radha and Krishna on the next day of Ekadashi. On this day, Holi of flowers and Lathmar Holi is played. In the Holi of flowers, large amount of flowers are collected and are thrown on each other. This sight of flowers along with the echo of “Radhe-Radhe” reminds us of the Dwapar Yug.

In Vrindavan, the sculpture of Banke Bihari is placed outside the temple. As if Bihari ji has himself come to play Holi. At this place, Holi is celebrated for seven days. First of all with flowers, then with Gulal, dry colors, wet colors. This Holi dip everyone in it’s shades. The hue of Holi of Vrindavan’s Banke bihari temple is unique. People stand in queue for several hours to play Holi with their adorable.

Lathmar Holi of Barsane

Holi is one of the most ancient festivals in India. It was originally named as ‘Holika’. It is celebrated in most of the parts of the country. The celebrations of Holi are full of immense zeal and fervor. It is also one of the most popular Indian festivals abroad. The celebrations of Holi differ from region to region, as if the Holi in Mathura and Vridavana, differs from those celebrated in Manipur, West Bengal and Orissa. It is said that the trend of colors and the modern form of Holi was introduced in Mathura and Vridavana by Lord Krishna himself and that is people of this region celebrate Holi religiously. One of the most famous kind of Holi celebrations in these areas are the ‘Lathmaar Holi’.

Lathmaar Holi is celebrated in Barsana, a small village at a distance of about 15 km from Vrindavan. It is known throughout India for its traditional Holi celebrations. No other city in the country can match the grandeur of the festival here. Barsana is actually the birth place of Lord Krishna’s beloved and divine consort, Radha. This is also the place where Lord Krishna used to play pranks on his beloved and Gopis (Radha’s companion). This naughty festivity still reflects in the celebrations of Holi in this village. Holi here is regarded as the celebration of the divine love of Radha and Krishna.

According to the folklore and mythological tales, Krishna in one of his pranks, applied dark colors on the cheeks of Radha, as she was fairer than him. This initiated the tradition of celebrating Holi not only here but in the whole country. Following the tradition, men from Nandgaon, the place where Krishna spent his childhood and early days, come to play Holi with the women of Barsana. Here, women and girls welcome them not with colors, but with stout sticks.

All this takes place in pursuit of men, trying to put a flag on the temple dedicated to Radha Rani. To stop them from doing so, women beat them hard with sticks. Some of them are even made to wear saris and skirts, all in the spirit of the festival. On the other hand, men, knowing what awaits them, come fully padded, carrying shields to protect themselves. The sight of women beating men is electrifying. The environment echoes with the reverberating sound produced by the stick hammering the shields.

Lathmaar Holi is definitely an interesting Holi celebration, wherein men patiently face the charged womenfolk. This is considered the sweet revenge women take for the ancient pranks played by Lord Krishna on them. However, after all the women folk is tired and their game is over, it is now the chance for the men to reciprocate. They drench the women with the colors of kesudo (a natural dye) and palash, thereby balancing the deal. At the end of the day, the Holi celebrations at Barsana present an unforgettable life time experience, downed with the spirit of devotion and affection for the Lord.

Mathura Holi

After the Barsana’s Lathmar Holi, Baldev’s (Dauji’s) Holi is played in Mathura. Girls (Gopi) beat boys(Gwale) with the hunters made of cloth. The real recreation of Holi of Brij Dham can be enjoyed here only. Holi is played on different days with full liveliness and amusement in all the Radha krishna temples located here. A captivating view is presented by Holi of Flowers and dance. The view of Vrindavan’s Banke Bihari mandir’s Holi is just exceptionally beautiful.

Bikaneri Holi

Holi is played in a unique style in Bikaner. At one place in Bikaner, Dolhchi Holi is played. Dolchi, is a utensil made of leather, used to carry water on back. This Holi is organised on Harsha Chowk of Bikaner. Thousands of people come here to see this style of Holi.

To play this Holi of Bikaner, colored water is added with Gulal of affection in Dolchi. Then women fill it up and bash it hard on the back of men. This echo of bashing goes to far distances. The history of this tradition of Holi is near about four hundred years old.

Also, on the occasion of Holi you can find people organising mockery. That is, you see these guise people everywhere in this place. This arrangement of mockery is carried up to eight days. Where someone is seated in form of Lord Bholenath, and some other as lord Vishnu.

Punjabi Holi

In Punjab, the Anandpur Sahb’s Holi Muhalla is really famous. This is called as Holi of Ram, Krishan’s Holi, Holi of Radha, and Holi of Lord Shiva of Banaras. At the time of Holi in Punjab, a Holi Mohalla is arranged.

Banarasi Holi

In Banaras, from the day of Ekadashi only Abri and Gulal start flying in the air. During this time, a boom of Holi gatherings take place. Here, evryone applies Gulal and hug each other. Yet time could not put a dust on Holi of Banaras. The group of youths can be seen singing and dancing on the songs of Faag, playing drums etc.

As per the traditions of Holi at this place a procession is carried out. In which the groom rides on a chariot. On the arrival of procession, the groom is welcomed as per the traditions. A pavilion or an open hall is decorated. Due to a debate of bride and groom in that pavilion, the procession is sent back without giving them the bride. This way it’s a different style of playing Holi.

A total of seven persons were killed in five accidents yesterday. While two people were killed in separate hit and run cases, two motorcyclists were killed after their vehicles hit a road divider, police said today.

A couple — insurance agent Vinay Rai (27) and his wife Deepa (23) — were killed in Mukarba Chowk yesterday when their motorcycle collided with a tempo while their minor children escaped death.

Deepa died on the spot while Vinay succumbed to his injuries at Babu Jagjivan Ram hospital during treatment. Their one-and-half-year-old child escaped unhurt while four-year-old daughter suffered head injuries.
They were on way to the house of Deepa”s parents in Seemapuri to celebrate Holi. The couple and the children resided in Rohini Sector 24.
The families of the couple came to know about the incident after one of the eye-witnesses called a number from Vinay”s mobile which happened to be that of a neighbour, a senior police official said.
“The neighbour then informed the families about the accident after which they rushed to the hospital,” he said.
A drunken brawl during Holi celebrations in central Delhi”s Ranjeet Nagar claimed the life of 18-year-old Sanjeev, a labourer, when he was stabbed allegedly by his friends.
He was celebrating Holi when an argument erupted among the friends, a senior police official said. “The argument soon led a scuffle and in between, somebody stabbed him in the chest,” he said.
All of them were under the influence of alcohol, the official said. Sanjay was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

Another person was killed in a separate mishap.
Two teenagers drowned in the capital yesterday while they were taking bath in river Yamuna after celebrating Holi.
Ajit Kumar (18), a student, drowned in the Yamuna in Timarpur area when he went to wash off colours after the celebrations. In a similar incident, 15-year-old Vicky drowned near Nanaksar Gurudwara in Sonia Vihar when he was taking bath in the river.
Police also challaned 7,956 people for various traffic violations including 624 for drunken driving.