Holy Holi, Jaipur

With Holi in the holiest city a no-go we decided to head west - to Jaipur. Jaipur is a fantastic city. The oldest part is a planned city with actual 90 degree intersections. There is some reasonable level of infrastructure and the climate is partial desert. Perfect for a party.

We spent our first whole day hanging around with a familiar guide going to places we knew we wanted to hit before the holiday and then settled in.

Our guesthouse is in a relatively affluent neighbourhood that had built a huge Holi night bonfire pyre in a local park. It was approximately 10 feet high and 12 feet wide and tucked full of dung cakes, offerings such as flowers and coconuts, kites, sticks, etc, and tied round and round with string. Women and girls approached it sprinkling vases of water and pinches of powders. The park was full of families running around and clutching their Holi items. Men and boys held large sheaves of wheat and boys often had hand strainers. We were the lone whit(ish) faces in an excited Indian crowd.

Once they touched a match to the pyre the people who had been crowding a foot or two away did a mad sprint dragging their toddlers behind them. The fire went up fast, high and hot. At the perimeter fence it still felt as though it would sear your face. The boys and men dodged in, resisting the heat, to briefly scorch their wheat sheaves in the pyre before running back to the crowd to examine them. The tree boughs overhanging the park disintegrated in the flames. Once the flames had slightly abated the boys ran in, many with cloths over their faces, brandishing strainers to try and scoop some ash to take home. Ash from the Holi bonfire brings wealth to the house, so everyone was pushing through the crowds with sizzling utensils full of hot coals to drop in cooking pots. A Canadian health and safety rep probably would have fainted. 

Playing colours is the next part of Holi that happens the next morning. Our guesthouse was holding a party for the guests, some non-resident tourists and local family and friends. It initially looked like some sort of cult with everyone in their white kurta pajamas, but we had our own gang costume - cheapie stretch pants from Varanasi and white Gandhi or India t-shirts that we had signed. The piles of colours were on all the tables and I barely started to say “Happy Holi” to Devika before she stuffed my mouth full of colour powder. Blech!

It was game on for the morning. We threw and smeared colours on one another, danced, drank beer and ate snacks. It was inevitable that someone would eventually be tossed into the pool. And then inevitable that everyone would be tossed into the pool. In Canada hosts would be horrified to see powder coated guests in their pool but Jaideo was pitching them in left right and centre. It got mucky fast. With all the powder and water I looked like a filthy street corner ragamuffin by the end of the party.

One of the nicest parts was getting to meet all the people who came to the party. In addition to guesthouse guests, there were the hosts’ friends and family and random tourists brought by guides. We chatted with tourists from Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, the US and other parts of India. And then we threw them in the pool. 

Most of the rest of Holi was spent trying to get clean. There was powder in all the cracks, including the ones on our faces. Our feet are dyed a deep purple from dancing in the pool water mixed with the colours. Around my eyes is stained purple, pink and yellow so it looks as though I have been punched and the side of my forehead is still green. J has pretty multi-coloured pastel hair and G’s is a glossy pink purple. This Holi will stay with us awhile.