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There are many places in India where Holi is celebrated with extraordinary enthusiasm, but Holi in Varanasi is different.

In Kashi, colour is mixed with devotion, Shiva with celebration, ancient lanes with music, and the gaiety of Holi with Varanasi's extraordinary understanding of life and death.

Come here only for photographs of people throwing gulal and you will see just one part of it. Stay long enough to understand Rangbhari Ekadashi, Kashi Vishwanath, Masan Holi, the ghats, neighbourhood celebrations and Banarasi hospitality, and Holi becomes an introduction to the character of the city itself.

Holi in Kashi begins before Holi

One of the most important things for a visitor to understand is that the Banaras Holi experience does not begin only on the morning when the country celebrates Holi.

The festive mood in Kashi becomes especially visible with Rangbhari Ekadashi. Local tradition associates the day with Lord Shiva returning to Kashi with Goddess Parvati after their marriage.

Gulal, flowers, music and devotion surround the celebrations connected with Baba Vishwanath. The atmosphere of the city begins changing: shops fill with colours, groups begin singing Holi songs, neighbourhood preparations intensify and Banaras seems to announce that Holi has arrived.

This connection with Shiva is one of the biggest differences between celebrating Holi in Varanasi and simply attending a large colour festival elsewhere.

Rangbhari Ekadashi: when Kashi welcomes Shiva and Parvati

Rangbhari Ekadashi is among the most fascinating occasions to experience around Holi in Varanasi.

The celebrations traditionally include the ceremonial presence of Shiva and Parvati, devotional music, processions and the offering of gulal. Around the Kashi Vishwanath area, the already narrow lanes can become exceptionally crowded.

If you are visiting primarily to understand the religious and cultural side of Banarasi Holi, try to arrive in Varanasi before Rangbhari Ekadashi rather than arriving only on Holi morning.

Check our Varanasi Festivals and Occasions Calendar while planning your journey because Hindu festival dates change from year to year.

Masan Holi: a tradition that can exist only in Kashi

Then comes perhaps the most unusual Holi tradition associated with Varanasi: Masan Holi, or Chita Bhasma Holi.

At Manikarnika, one of Hinduism's most sacred cremation grounds, a local tradition associated with the period immediately after Rangbhari Ekadashi involves devotees celebrating with ash and gulal.

The belief associated with the tradition is that after celebrating with Parvati and devotees, Shiva celebrates with his ganas at the cremation ground.

To somebody encountering it for the first time, the sight can appear contradictory. There is death, fire, ash, music and celebration occupying the same space.

But that contradiction is important to understanding Kashi. Manikarnika is not a festival arena created for tourists. It remains an active and deeply sacred cremation ground.

Visit with reverence, not simply with a camera.

Do not obstruct funeral rites. Do not photograph grieving families. Follow police instructions and local access restrictions. If an area is crowded or restricted, observe from where visitors are permitted rather than pushing towards the ritual.

Then Banaras explodes into colour

On Holi itself, much of Varanasi becomes wonderfully unpredictable.

Gulal appears in the lanes. Children patrol neighbourhoods with water. Groups of friends move from house to house. Drums and music can suddenly turn an ordinary crossing into a celebration.

The old city gives Holi a particularly intense character because the celebration takes place inside a living maze of narrow streets, temples, shops, houses and tiny courtyards.

You may walk into one lane expecting to reach a ghat and emerge twenty minutes later coloured pink, carrying sweets and having acquired three new Banarasi friends.

What are the ghats like during Holi?

The Ganga remains the visual heart of Varanasi, and many visitors naturally head towards the river.

Areas around Assi Ghat are popular with younger visitors, students and travellers, while the old-city riverfront around Dashashwamedh places you close to the traditional core of Kashi.

Do not, however, assume that the best experience means entering the largest crowd.

Sometimes the memorable Banaras Holi is a smaller neighbourhood celebration, breakfast with a local family, music in a lane or simply watching colour-stained people walking beside the Ganga after the morning's celebrations.

A good way to experience Holi in Varanasi

Time Experience
Before Holi Experience Rangbhari Ekadashi and the atmosphere around Kashi Vishwanath.
Following days Learn about the distinctive Masan Holi tradition of Kashi.
Holi morning Celebrate colours in a safe local area or organised gathering.
Later Wash, rest, eat and enjoy the changing mood beside the Ganga.
Evening Return to the riverfront when conditions and local arrangements permit.

What to wear

This is not the day for your favourite clothes.

Wear comfortable old clothes that you are happy to permanently recolour. Cotton clothing is usually the easiest choice. Closed or secure footwear is preferable when walking through crowded lanes.

Keep your phone, money and important documents inside a waterproof pouch. Sunglasses can help protect the eyes from flying powder.

A little oil applied to the hair before going out can make colour easier to remove later. Most importantly, choose skin-friendly colours wherever you have control over what is being used.

Consent still matters on Holi

Holi is joyful because people participate in it willingly.

A simple rule makes the festival better for everyone: do not force colour, water or physical contact on somebody who does not want to participate.

Travellers should apply the same rule themselves. If a situation feels uncomfortable, move away rather than feeling obliged to participate simply because it is Holi.

Be careful with bhang

Thandai is strongly associated with Banaras and Holi, and visitors will encounter both ordinary thandai and preparations containing bhang.

They are not the same thing.

Never assume that a drink contains no intoxicant. Ask clearly before drinking it. If you choose to consume bhang where it is legally available, remember that its effects may take time to appear and can be considerably stronger than a first-time visitor expects.

Staying hydrated and keeping control of your travel arrangements is much more useful than discovering halfway through the afternoon that you cannot remember the name of your hotel.

Eat Holi the Banarasi way

Holi is not only about colour.

This is also an excellent time to discover the festive appetite of Banaras: gujiya, malpua, dahi vada, kachori-sabzi, sweets and thandai all fit naturally into the celebration.

Start early with a proper Banarasi breakfast. After an energetic morning of colours, food and rest become increasingly attractive.

Holi is perhaps the one day on which a plate of kachori-sabzi can feel like emergency equipment.

Photography: take memories, not somebody's dignity

Varanasi during Holi can produce extraordinary photographs: faces covered in gulal, clouds of colour, temples, boats, musicians and the ancient city behind them.

But a camera does not create permission.

Ask before taking close portraits when practical. Be especially restrained around temples, rituals and cremation ghats. Never treat mourners or funeral ceremonies as festival scenery.

Families and travellers who do not want the biggest crowds

You do not have to stand inside the densest crowd to experience Holi in Varanasi.

Families, older travellers and people uncomfortable with uncontrolled colour throwing may prefer a hotel celebration, a private courtyard, a smaller neighbourhood gathering or an organised event.

You can then explore the riverfront once the most intense morning celebrations have subsided.

Transport on Holi

Plan as though normal transport will not operate normally.

Road restrictions, processions, crowds and celebrations can make vehicles difficult to obtain close to the old city. Stay within reasonable walking distance of the area in which you intend to celebrate whenever possible.

Save your hotel's phone number and exact location offline before leaving your room.

Why Holi in Varanasi stays with you

The most interesting thing about Banaras Holi is not how much colour is thrown.

It is the way the festival becomes inseparable from the identity of Kashi.

Shiva and Parvati enter the story. The lanes become theatres. Ghats become meeting places. Food becomes celebration. Strangers become companions. And at Manikarnika, the symbolism of ash brings the themes of mortality and liberation into a festival normally associated with spring, youth and colour.

Few cities could contain all of these ideas at once.

Banaras can.

Before you come

Festival dates, processions, access controls and local arrangements vary each year. Before making travel plans, consult our interactive Varanasi Festivals and Occasions Calendar and verify current local arrangements.

Come to Varanasi for Holi prepared to get coloured. Leave having discovered something much bigger than colour.

हर हर महादेव। Happy Holi from Kashi.