Hola Mohalla

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, founded the Khalsa at Anandpur in 1699. Two years later, according to tradition, he called his Sikhs to gather the day after Holi at the fort of Holgarh, not to throw colours but to drill, hold mock battles and compete in arms, with poetry and music in the evening. The day prepared a community under threat to defend itself and gave Holi a new meaning within the Sikh tradition.

The festival opens at Kiratpur Sahib and moves to Anandpur Sahib, the town in the foothills of the Shivaliks where the Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, one of the five seats of Sikh authority, stands on the site of the Khalsa’s founding. Gurdwaras hold readings of the Guru Granth Sahib and kirtan day and night.

On the main day a great procession leaves Kesgarh Sahib behind the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh flag, with drums and the Panj Pyare at its head, and winds to the bank of the Charan Ganga stream. There Nihangs give displays of gatka, sword and spear play, riding several horses at once, tent-pegging and standing on galloping horses. Volunteers cook and serve free meals in vast langars for the pilgrims, many of whom camp for days.

Anandpur Sahib remains the centre, but gurdwaras in the diaspora mark the day with kirtan, gatka displays by young people and langar. Hola Mohalla is also one of the occasions on which Sikh political parties hold conferences at Anandpur, beside the religious gathering.