Happy Holi :)

Happy Holi - Rishikesh, India

What an amazing 48 hours Holi was!!! The colors, the trekking, the camping, the river - wonderful experiences!! 

Every year, thousands of Hindus participate in the festival Holi. The festival has many purposes. First and foremost, it celebrates the beginning of the new season, spring. Originally, it was a festival that commemorated good harvests and the fertile land. Hindus believe it is a time of enjoying spring's abundant colors and saying farewell to winter. It also has a religious purpose, commemorating events present in Hinduism.

Hindus across India observe Holi. In celebration, Hindu devotees spend the day smearing colored powder on each other’s faces and throwing colored water at friends and family, leading to Holi’s status as India’s “Festival of Colors.”

The main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli in Sanskrit is celebrated by people throwing scented powder and perfume at each other. Bonfires are lit on the eve of the festival, also known as Kacy Dahan or Little Holi, after which Kacy dahan prayers are said and praise is offered. The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlada accomplished when Demoness Kacy, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Kacy was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of god Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his devotion. 

We were so lucky to be in India over this celebration. Rishikesh Yog Peeth organized for us to be out of Rishikesh town itself as it tends to be a little wild and crazy, and to have our own celebration at a camp site a few hours drive from Rishikesh. They chose a totally secluded setting in the the middle of the hills, and alongside the River Ganges. So lucky :) Everyone on the YTT 300 course came along, and people who were doing the beginners course also which meant that Charley and Cat were able to join as well :) 

The celebrations started a day early as everyone was so excited about this celebration of colors. The staff at Shiva Resort where the YTT 300 people stayed were hilarious and within moments of us opening our bedroom doors we were ridiculously covered in paint powder and being held in position while they sprayed paint over our faces and clothes!! Too funny.  Then we made the short walk over to Krishna Resort to collect the others joining us and got bombarded again! The bus ride to the camp site was LONG and stupidly hot, but an excited one for everyone. The bus dropped us as close to the camp site as possible, and we walked the rest of the journey ourselves.  It was a short trek but enough to get me worried about how I will handle the Annapurna Circuit next month! 

The setting was stunning, totally secluded and amazingly wild and free as you can see from the photos. We had shared tents set up along the beach, each with two basic beds inside and blankets. Once settled we all ran down to the River Ganges in the hope of swimming but were told that the current was too strong :( We managed to convince them to let us bathe in the shallows, and we quickly broke all the rules of non bikini wearing and jumped into our swim suits and into the water and splashed about to cool down. It was FREEZING but so, so good at the same time.  It took some scrubbing to remove the initial paint that had been thrown, and a few girls had to scrub properly their hair and skin to remove the bright red haha!! Faraaz was quick to tell us that if we dunked our full body and head underwater in the River three times, our sins would be cleansed.  Not wanting to miss out, we all psyched ourselves up to face the cold and as quickly as possible dunked underwater to start the adventure off sin free!! Then we took fun photos along the water edge, some doing yoga poses, some jumping for the sky and basically the camping adventure began! People chilled on the sand, some played volleyball, some played football, some played with henna, and others just chatted and shared life stories. A totally chilled out event.  

The fresh air and relaxed tone after 14 days straight of 5:30am alarm calls and 8 hours straight of YTT 300 hour yoga teacher training totally relaxed me into a state of total sleepiness!! While others enjoyed the bonfire and indian music and dancing I took myself off to the tent for the earliest nights sleep I had managed since arriving in India, and had the most amazing sleep ever!! Totally grateful to the dog who took it upon himself to guard our tent the whole night ;)

The next morning we peeked out of the tent - the official day to celebrate Holi - to see who had paint to hand, and raced out before we could get covered all over again!! So much fun, within minutes of breakfast finishing there was all out war with paint and powder and spray paints flying across the beach and each other.  The vivid colors shown against the perfectly calm white of the sand and made for awesome photos! So much fun. There was a mini dance party with Indian music (including gingham style lol)! 

The fun didn't end there, from camping we drove to a site along the River Ganges to begin our rafting trip back to Rishikesh. I had never done white water rafting before so was a little anxious as a friend told me about her experience of falling off the raft in India previously and feeling like she might drown. I might be a dive master but feeling as though I might drown is not my idea of fun!! However the whole experience was so, so, totally cool that I am so happy I tried it!! No joke, we had 4 hours straight of white water rafting from the camp site all the way back to Rishikesh.  The rapids ranged in scariness from good fun to seriously holding on for your life!! So much fun!! Only one raft toppled over and dropped people into the water, and luckily wasn't mine… The rapids were such an adrenaline rush, and the perfect end to an awesome couple of days away from the Ashram. 

Big smiles to find chili and rice waiting for us when we got back to the ashram, and the hot water turned on early for showers :) On my way back to my room I got head butted by a down, but I decided to forgive it because it was Holi after all. 

Great times in India :):) <3