The Trans-Himalayan Holi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I believe “to live” is something we can do always. It’s our choice how to paint our lives on the fresh canvas of the world. As it is said ”to live is to free”, and the moments that we’d experienced when we set our soul to dance over the clouds were I believed the best and the most unforgettable moments we humans had ever experienced.

One of such incredible moment I’d witnessed was ” Sangla’s Holi” . A small Himalayan hamlet situated at an altitude of around nine thousand feet, Sangla is well known for its diverse traditional culture and tranquil landscapes. The whole valley is called Sangla valley or Baspa valley( Baspa is the river flowing through this valley which adds more sparkles to the valley). The beauty of Sangla valley is so serene that one can easily spend his day sitting back with a cup of chai (tea) and watch the tranquil landscapes and dancing clouds.

   But on the fest day like ‘Holi’ is not a sit back at all in this valley. People from the whole valley and the nearby villages gathered in Sangla to celebrate this festival of colours. The enchanting music of drums and trumpet( and also the local wine ”Phasur”) filled the souls with so much energy that the whole Sangla was seen dancing on the beats of it. This two days festival here ended with the ”dahan of Holika”(which was burnt as a symbol of victory of truth over sins), with people dressing traditionally and dancing in a huge circle around Holika.

The way these charmed kinnauri people celebrate this festival could not be seen in any other part of the country. And the most beautiful thing that amazed me here was their respect for their culture and tradition, they’ve still preserved this thousand years old tradition which can be seen purely on the festival like Holi.