Braj Ki Holi, Uttar Pradesh 2015-2020

Lathmar Holi is a centuries old practice that gives a free hand to women to beat up their men for a day amidst colorful and wild celebrations. Every year villagers of Barsana and Nandgaon celebrate Holi for a week beforehand. As per locals, the story of Lathmar Holi started when Krishna visited his beloved Radha on this day and teased her and her friends. Women got a little offended and decided to teach Krishna a lesson and chased him away by beating him with sticks. In order to recreate that event, every year men from Krishna’s village, Nandgaon, visit Radha’s hometown Barsana where they are greeted with abuses and sticks (lath). Hence this tradition came into picture. Same rituals gets repeated when men from Barsana visits Nandgaon.