No no…
Dont be shocked its not a dharmik artical. 😛 Just greeting you guys in a different istyle 😛 lol. No I have not gone nuts its just that I am in the mood of sharing one of the crazy festival celebrated fondly around india. So let me introduce you to the land which is a home to our very own Lord Krishna “Mathura” and yes I am talking about holi.
As everyone knows Mathuras holi is famous world wide & lots of tourist and journalist from all around the world visit this place to capture the crazy experience of holi which is played continuously for days from dusk to dawn. Out of curiosity I thought of taking a visit to the birth place of holi i.e. the land of Bakebihari (Lord Krishna) to celebrate and experience the same joy and madness of colors, and specially for food lovers like me :P.
The streets of mathura are gonna treat you royally during this festival with all the sweetness out in the market to tempt you and drool you over. As this place is famous for its dairy products. You will find yummy local cuisines like lassi, rabdi with jalebi , mawa cake, malpua (fried sweet indian pancake) etc. Temples in mathura are also very beautiful and vibrant the tradition of holi starts first with puja in the morning which leads to ladoo holi where ladoos are thrown on devotees who came for puja which are considered as blessing from lord krishna.
Then starts a lathmaar holi where the people of Nandgaon and Barsana play Holi together. The men wear huge turbans to protect themselves from the colour and beatings of the women of Barsana. Lathmar Holi (Stick Beatings Holi) is played at sunset, when women dressed in beautiful sarees unleash a shower of sticks on the men of Nandgaon to teach them a lesson for all the broken pots and for teasing the girls of Barsana and vice a versa (Lord Krishna was very mischievous as kid he liked playing tricks on people and love teasing them specially women and in return he use to get scolding’s or beating for his behaviour, That’s why the tradition of lathmaar holi still continues) after which everyone starts playing holi with dry colors and water in and around temple chanting radhe radhe and dancing and pleasing lord krishna hoping he would bless them by dancing and enjoying with them.
Photography By : Hemanshi Kamani
THE TAJMAHAL
Wait wait the trip is not over yet. It was time for us to head back home but we did get few hours in hand before bording our train so we did take a small Road Trip to Agra, and visited TajMahal which was on my list since eons and after reaching there the photographer inside me came out who wouldn’t miss a chance to click such beautiful symbol of love, with help of one of my friend in the group we did click Taj in all possible angles by running in and around it (koi bhi kona nahi janediya, so typical na :P) Chitchatting and clicking pics was relaxing and fun after continues crazy holi days. Agra also treated us with nice yummy mouthwatering butter chicken and roti (flat bread) for lunch. Its true that random plans like these do give you unexpected but unforgettable memories.
Visiting Mathura was an amazing experience. People are very welcoming and friendly. Holi looked like beautiful blanket of vibrant colors bringing us together. For them it didnt matter if your an outsider. What mattered was spreading joy and happiness. Meeting new people while travelling and knowing new places does make you grow. I am glad I met few strangers who became good friends in very short time. This trip did teach me to spread happiness by small gestures for people around me and life is very short live the way you want. Spread love and make people smile. These memories will last more than any materialistic things in life (LOL jada gyaan hogaya na). Sorry wont pakao you more :p. If I had to describe this trip in one word and that would be “Insane” 😀
The above interesting post is written by Hemanshi Kamani and she is active with her photography skills on Instagram too. Writing and photography is now her passion and profession.
Visit her blog to read more write-ups. She is reachable through her blog and you can contact her at hemanshikamani@gmail.com.
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