Holi is the Hindu festival celebrated in every part the county. The festival of colors signifies the winning of good over bad. Every state has its own way of playing holi and Lathmaar Holi celebrated in Barsana and Nandagaon of U.P. has its own specialty, in which holi is played by sticks. On the first day of Lathmaar Holi festival, women’s of Barsana, the birthplace of Radha, beat men’s of Nandaagaon, the birthplace of Krishna( both are Hindu gods) in response to their efforts of coloring the women’s.
Men’s shield themselves when women’s come to beat them with the bamboo sticks and the unlucky ones who get captured by the enthusiastic women are supposed to make the mean wear female clothes and dance in public.
In the beautiful temple of Radha Rani in Barsana; the only temple in the country which is dedicated to Radha, thousands of people gather there to witness the Lathmaar Holi. Peoples on the sidelines sing holi songs and shout Shri Radhey or Hare Krishna. The holi songs sung by them are purely in Braj Bhasha.
Now on the second day, it is the turn of Barsana men’s and they also perform the same rituals of drenching the women’s of Nandagaon with the colors and get beaten by the women’s of Nandagaon. In the intervals, people have thandai’s laced with a paste of Bhang into each glass. Being the show of love, fun and equality the women’s of barsana start preparing a month before.
