Playing with scorpions, sticks and other unusual Holi traditions in India

Throwing colours and water at each other is not the only way of celebrating Holi in India

the amusing ritual of

In Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, a three-day event called

Every year on Holi, the residents of village Saunthana of Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh, located about 190 km from the state capital Lucknow, engage in a rather quaint and dangerous ritual—playing with scorpions. On the evening of the day after "Holika Dahan," the villagers assemble at Bhaisan Devi Tila, beat drums, and sing "Phaag" (folk songs), followed by catching scorpions from the rocky terrain of Bhaisan Devi Tila. They place the scorpions on different parts of their bodies. Villagers say the ritual has been going on since colonial times.

Holi marks the beginning of spring and celebrates the triumph of good over evil. People play Holi by throwing coloured powder and scented water at each other; however, as the residents of village Saunthana show, that's not the only way of celebrating Holi in India.

"It's because of the diversity in India that every festival is celebrated differently by different sets of people," said Binda Dattatreya Paranjpe, a professor of history at the Banaras Hindu University, speaking to DH online. "Holi celebrates the arrival of spring and the end of winter. Different communities—primitive or modern—have their way of observing this transition."

Like village Saunthana, the amusing ritual of "Lath Maar," i.e. "Holi of Sticks," is celebrated a few days before Holi in the twin towns of Barsana and Nandgaon, both located in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. Women carry wooden sticks to beat up the men who tease them. The ritual has its roots in a legend linked to Radha-Krishna. According to the legend, Lord Krishna, who was a resident of Nandgaon, wanted to spray colour on his beloved Radha and her friends to tease them on the day of Holi. But, as Krishna and his friends entered Barsana, Radha and her friends playfully beat them with sticks and drove them out.

Furthermore, about 30 km outside Mathura, in the Dauji Temple in Baldeo, devotees observe "Huranga" festivities a day after Holi. Soon after the morning darshan, thousands of devotees from Baldeo and other neighbouring villages gather in the temple courtyard. Men pour buckets of saffron-tinged water on women, who retaliate by tearing their shirts off and thrashing them with it. The ritual gives women a chance to get back at men for all the pranks played during the year.

At the Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi, devotees of Lord Shiva revel in the Holi festivities by picking ash from cremation grounds and throwing them on each other. The ritual begins with people offering prayers to Mahashamashan Nath, the lord of the cremation ground, after which they not only smear each other with ash but also sing and dance to drum beats. This tradition, called "Chita-Bhasma Holi," is known to have been observed for centuries. This unique form of Holi is believed to have started when Lord Shiva played Holi with pyre ashes to celebrate his wife's return, Parvati.

"The Chita-Bhasma Holi gets a mention in Hindustani classical singer Pandit Chhannulal Mishra's 'Phagwa geet.' It's about a unique event and how Lord Shiva plays Holi with ashes at the Masaan (cemetery). The lyrics of the song go, Khele masaane mein horee Digambar, khele masaane mein horee,” said Paranjpe.

"This tradition depicts humankind in its most primitive form. It's a symbolic representation of a time when binaries like good and bad and birth and death didn't exist," she said.

In Anandpur Sahib, a city in the Ropar district of Punjab, a three-day event called "Hola Mohalla" is celebrated by camping out, watching displays of fighting prowess and bravery, and listening to kirtan, music, and poetry. The festival takes place on the second day of the lunar month of Chett, a day after Holi, but sometimes coincides with it as well. It was Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, who built upon the story of Prahlad and founded the festival of Hola Mohalla. He held the first such mock fight event at Anandpur Sahib in February 1701.

(Kartikeya is a journalist from Delhi who is passionate about covering culture, politics, conflict, food, and human interest stories)