Heard of the Barsana - Nandgaon Holi? Ofcourse, yes! That is in every content creator, festive lover and photographers list.
I too had the immense excitement to be in Barsana on Holi. Since, it's a 10 day festival I tried to reach on time and cover all the rituals.
I reached Delhi on the 16th, took a bus from ISBT, travelled for another 3 hours and phew! I was in Vrindavan. That's the nearest city to Barsana.
To stay in a decent place - one has to choose vrindavan. There are a few but great stay options in Vrindavan.
Day 1:
In the evening, I went to NishiVan - which is said to be the place where Radha Krishna still roams around in the evening. Festivities were to start the next day. Vrindavan being a very small town ( unfortunately not well maintained) was overly crowded. When I say overly, I do mean it.
Suggestions for places to visit: Prem Mandir, Banke Bihari Temple, Yamuna Ghat ( don't miss) and enjoy the local delicacies.
Day 2:
Since it was immensely crowded, I started very early in the morning to reach Barsana. Barsana is 60 kms from Vrindavan and can be reached by a shared auto in around 1.5 hours.
Barsana and Nandgaon - the dual cities are very famous amongst the Krishna devotees.
As per the folklore, Lord Krishna from Nandgaon yearned to play Holi with Radha from Barsana. So he went to play Holi in her village.
He and his pals, the Gwalas, started making fun of Radha and her companions, the Gopiyas, as soon as they arrived. Then, armed with "laths," or sticks, Radha and the Gopiyas started chasing the Gwalas out of the settlement. This is why it is dubbed Lathmar Holi—all of this took place in good humor and during Holi.
I was therefore quite excited about seeing the Holi of those locations after hearing the accolades for these activities. I wanted to go there and feel it for myself so I could take photos that captured the happiness of that location.
On reaching Barsana, I clearly understood that this place is not worth visiting alone. Not even as a couple. If you are here during Holi, you need to stick to a group of atleast 8-10 people, to be precise - men! Barsana is not safe for girls. To avoid any unnecessary groping and teasing I was already covered and well dressed. The crowd was purposely pushing, groping and marking comments on females. Since, they could make it out that I was all alone, the mishaps were more targeted towards me. I could not capture a moment that day.
Also, due to the uncontrollable crowd, Radha Rani Temple was closed for the public. Laddu Mar Holi was played inside the premises without any intervention of the tourists.
I failed capturing that!
Day 3
It was the day for the most awaited event of the year - 'Lathmar Holi'. It is a unique form of Holi that has to do with the Holi games played by Radha and Krishna. Krishna and his companions are said to have gone to Barsana to play Holi with a number of Gopiyas. They started making fun of them while they were playing, so Radha and the other Gopis chased them away with sticks, or "laathi." This is the basis for Lathmar Holi.
The men of Nandagaon travel to Barsana and play while using their shields to protect themselves - the women of Barsana mischievously try to hit them with 'lath' i.e. stick.
On Day the vice versa happens. Men of Nandagaon travel to Barsana to play 'lath mar'. Also, the day 4 at Nandagaon is happening as the biggest color festival is played inside the temple. In both the places, you need to walk miles to reach as the place remains over crowded throughout the festival.
Day 5 is for 'Phoolo Wali' Holi at Banke Bihari Temple, Vrindavan.
My experience at Barsana and Nandagaon Holi was a mixed one. I felt amazingly happy to witness this grand festival and was evenly disturbed by the behaviour of the locals - a few and not all!
Even when two of my friends helped me through Day 2 at Barsana, they were not able to keep me safe for long. Somehow the pichkaris, bucket full of water, gullal everything was pointed towards me or whenever a girl passes by! Eve teasing, groping and harassing raises a great concern about women security at this place, especially during Holi.
I would really advise not to visit Vrindavan - Barsana- Nandagaon on Holi. It is neither safe nor peaceful. And for girls, if you don't have a group of at least 7-8 men with you, you should avoid visiting the place!
