Indian Holi

All Books are second hand
Veronique Durruty

This is a story of love between gods: the blue skinned Krishna's love for the fair skinned Radha. Krishna was not happy to be darker than his beloved. Fortunately, the Mother Gods proposed a day to show colour on the face of Radha. And since, annually at the full moon which announces the early spring, the whole of India celebrates Holi.Holi is the celebration of love for Radha Krishna, fertility and the return to life. It is when India is at its most colourful, most festive, most joyfully exuberant and most photogenic. Holi is the festival where everything is allowed! Women in sari throw bhang into the crowds (a sacred potion composed of dried leaves or crushed flowers and spices which is used to heal the body or help to meditate), the Temples become stages for rock bands and from the air, the ground resembles a giant abstract painting.Is this fervour or extreme debauchery? Veronique Durruty went to survey the towns of Udaipur in Rajasthan, Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, where the god Krishna grew up, sharing these privileged moments with India and its people.