Holi Countdown 2027

Holi follows the Hindu lunisolar calendar and therefore moves in the Gregorian year: it falls on the full moon of Phalguna, usually in March, occasionally in late February. This countdown tracks the real date, recomputed each year.

Two nights, two moods. Holi is not one event but two:

• Holika Dahan, the evening before, when bonfires are lit. It recalls the story of Prahlada and the burning of the demoness Holika — the triumph of devotion over tyranny.
• Rangwali Holi, the following morning, when coloured powder and water are thrown in the street. Age, caste and rank are set aside for the day; the phrase bura na mano, Holi hai — do not take offence, it is Holi — licenses the disorder.

The colours have meanings, though they vary by region: red for love and fertility, yellow for turmeric and healing, green for spring and new beginnings, blue for Krishna.

It is a spring festival first. Holi marks the end of winter and the coming harvest, which is why it is celebrated most intensely in the agricultural north — Mathura and Vrindavan, associated with Krishna's childhood, draw visitors for a week rather than a day.

Holi is a public holiday in India and Nepal, and widely marked in Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius and Fiji.