Holi is the Indian festival of colors celebrating the return of spring with boisterous behavior, bright colors, music and joyful dance. It is a time when the established segregation between caste and gender, and the strictly modest Indian social norms, are temporarily put on hold, and everyone can cut loose, release their pent up winter frustrations and have fun.

The tradition is attributed to several different legends, one of which is associated with the young prankster Krishna and his sweet love, Radha.  Krishna, who was upset that he had very dark skin compared to Radha’s fair complexion, put colors on her face to make her any color he desired.  This act was immortalized into a tradition commemorated across India, Nepal and anywhere in the world with a Hindu population.

At the time of our chai pilgrimage, we were staying at the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram in Vrindavan.  In the ashram, devotees celebrated Holi, by lovingly smearing colored powders of red, pink, yellow and green across each other’s cheeks and singing traditional Holi songs about the enduring love of Krishna and Radha.  On the streets outside the ashram gates, Holi was a pigment pandemonium, with mobs of hoodlums from outlying villages dumping buckets of dyed water and throwing handfuls of colored powder into the faces of barefoot pilgrims circumambulating the holy city.

We were able to avoid some potentially soggy situations when confronted by gangs of mischievous children set on dousing us with colored water.  We would say, “Wait! One photo, please!” and the kids would lower their water cannons and pose for us.  While they were temporarily frozen, we would snap a picture and run.

Click the arrow below to hear these women singing, or click the link to download the mp3.

Choti Maharaj’s Ashram in Vrindavan, India: Sita Ram Radhe Sham

Religion and Spirituality are the essence of Indian culture. At any time, wherever you are, there are reminders of India’s religious diversity and our relationship with the Divine.

Religious dress distinguishes Hindu women in saris, Muslims in burqas and Tibetan Buddhists with red and yellow robes. People greet one another with hands over their heart while saying the sacred salutation “Namasté” or “As-salam Alaykum.” Children are named after Hindu Gods and Goddesses or companions of the prophet Mohammed. Even restaurants and other businesses bear the name of God, like Buddha Airlines, Hanuman Tea or Ram Milk Sweets.

God’s names echo across the city, as chants from temples or the call to prayer from mosques broadcast through blaring loudspeakers. Throughout the day there are processions celebrating a marriage with drumming, dancing and flashing lights, or honoring a death by carrying the colorfully wrapped body through the streets, chanting Ram Nam Satya Hai (the name of God is Truth). Flowers, ghee lamps and incense are offered at roadside shrines. Street musicians sing devotional songs to God. Wondering monks ask for alms. Images of Hindu deities hang on the walls of chai shops while carved stone icons silently observe.

Although chai is not a doctrine of any faith, (except perhaps our own), it seemed to be the element that transcended all gender, age, caste or religion. Like God, chai was everywhere. So, as we traveled through Nepal and Northern India, we drank up not only chai, but also the rich spiritual way of life.

Click the arrow below to hear one man’s morning prayer on the Ganga in Benares, or click the link to download the mp3.

Ganga Solo

Sikkim, India: Rumtek Monastery Chanting