• Updated on Jan 27, 2024

Holi, a popular festival carrying a mythological story has deep roots in Hindu philosophy and can be traced back thousands of years. The history of the Holi festival is as old as the HinduSquare religion itself.

Holi is celebrated for A couple of days in Nepal and this year 2024, the Holi festival is quite earlier.  

on 24th March 2024 AD, Holi will be celebrated in the Hilly region, Including Kathmandu and Pokhara 

 on 25th March 2024 AD - the Terai region 

JOIN OUR TEAM TO CELEBRATE THE HOLI FESTIVAL IN NEPAL, BOOK NOW

Ask questions or Book the Holi Festival tour 2024: WhatsApp +977 9841161593

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Now, what does Holi stand for? Holi is a festival of colors where people splash different colors on each other to celebrate the victory of good over evil. Colors symbolize life, and coloring gives life to our wishes and celebrations, making Holi a festival of celebrating life, love, and passion.

holi festival in Nepal

Due to modernization, a little change in the way of the celebration can be observed, now we not only splash dried colors but also water balloons, pichakaree are becoming popular mainly in the urban areas, where people from the roof-top of their houses splash water towards passerby.

Making the festival Holi not only limited to a particular religion or group, but it has also become a common festival for the time being.

The history of the origination of the Holy festival can be traced back to Hindu Mythology, according to ‘Vishnu Purnan’ a religious text that talks about an evil king Hiranya Kashyap, who is evil through his deeds conducted a long penance for the Lord Brahma.

Guests are on the Holi festival tour with us in Kathmandu.

Brahama pleased with his devotion asked the king for his reason for long penance. The king happy to see Brahama asked for a boon to be immortal. Brahama told the king that a man born is sure to die, so requested to ask for some other boon that can be fulfilled.

To this King Hiranya Kasyapu asks Brahma to bless him with a boon that he won’t be killed by any human or by animals, he won’t be killed on the earth either in the sky or underwater, he won’t be killed by any weapons nor be killed during day or night.

Finally, Brahma pleased with the king, happened to bless the same with a similar boon.

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After gaining the boon the king became more powerful and a dictator and he started pretending to be a god, as immortal as the boon was no lesser than being an immortal.

Hiranya Kasyapu started to build his temples in the entire kingdom removing all the other temples of gods and goddesses and ordering all the citizens to pray to him. Those who were rejected faced death, even the religious priest.

To show the power of God, a son was happened to born in the palace of King Hiranya Kashyap. This little boy is believed to be a manifestation of Lord Vishnu, who from a very early age was a devotee of Vishnu, this was not acceptable to the King, so he tried to kill his own and only son for disobeying the king and not worshipping him as a god.

Multiple attempts were made to kill the boy but each time he was saved by Lord Vishnu. The final attempt was made by the king to kill his son, he invited his sister Holika who was blessed with the boon of being immune to fire. Accordingly, the pyre was lit and Holika sat on it, taking the little boy on her lap.

By the end, the Holika was burnt alive but the boy emerged out of the fire without any sign of burn. Roared in anger the tyrannical king attempted to kill the boy but Lord Vishnu emerged in the palace in the form of Narasimha and tore apart the king.

This shows, that no matter how powerful the evil force is; good will always overcome evil. To mark the victory over evil Holi is celebrated and also celebrated in the name of Holika for her death.

The citizens celebrated this victory over evil throughout the kingdom by putting colors among them. And the story passes away, popularizing the myth, and is now celebrated worldwide making it more popular among Hindus.

In Nepal and India, the Holi festival is regarded as an official festival where all business is closed for a day and people come in the street, singing, and dancing, meeting friends and family members, and splashing colors.

 

The Holi Festival celebration Tour in Nepal 2024 will be a new experience for many travelers where you can experience the lively culture and life of people. This will be a two-day Nepal festival according to geographical location, as Nepal is divided into Hills and Tarai (Plain).

Thus, on 24th March 2024 AD, Holi will be celebrated in the Hilly region along with Kathmandu and Pokhara City, and on 25th March 2024 AD, it will be celebrated in the Tarai region. This one-day festival is an official government holiday separately in both regions.

Come and join this living experience to feel the lively colors and tradition of the Nepali Holi festival, which can be a new experience to remember forever and ever.

Planning for your next trip to Nepal, follow the date of the festival and join other activities with our expert team, we can merge the festival with trekking or other programs according to your schedule and interest.

JOIN OUR TEAM TO CELEBRATE THE HOLI FESTIVAL IN NEPAL, BOOK NOW

For more information or booking WhatsApp: +977-9841161593 or Email: info@discoveraltitude.com

Kumar Lamsal

Kumar Lamsal

Kumar is one of the Co-founders and Managing directors of Discover Altitude holding 18 years of experience in the tourism sector of Nepal. He has trekked to almost all the popular regions of Nepal and is an authorized trekking and tour guide.

Started his career as a porter to support his study, now holds MPhil and LLB degree, and is doing his Ph.D. in religious studies. He loves traveling to the Himalayas and has deep knowledge about religion, culture, and history.

Kumar is also involved in the teaching sector as a part-timer to deliver his research related to the cultural and religious diversity of Nepal and is the one who mostly answers your queries giving them his personal touch through his decade-long experience.