Holi is one of the most colourful and joyous festivals for the Indian Hindus. Lovingly called the festival of colours, Holi perfectly matches the palette of spring, a season marked by new leaves, blooms and cuckoos’ cadence everywhere. Like other Hindu festivals, Holi also symbolizes the good’s triumph over the evil. The occasion also observes the divine love between Radha and Krishna.

After grey winter, spring steps in with all the vibrancy and hues human minds can crave and ever imagine. The holy festival is the perfect canvas to pour one’s heart out in all vibrant colours. Holi is celebrated with grandeur and enthusiasm in different places in India. Colours become an expression of joy, love and compassion. However, the different ways it is celebrated gives you a glimpse of ‘Unity in Diversity” character of great the Indic civilization and culture.

Rolls Royce Holi

The Rolls Royce Holi is a unique form of holicelebration organized at the heart of Kolkata. Hosted in Burrabazar, a famous business hub in the City of Joy, the festival involves a heavily decorated vintage Rolls Royce Car that doubles as a chariot for the ceremonial procession. On the day of Holi, the car is transformed into a moving temple to house the idols of Lord Krishna and his beloved Radha. A large crowd of devotees and common people attend the spectacular event. Such a pompous celebration is a visual extravaganza for the photographers alike. 

Every year, as Indians wakes up to the cuckoos’ sweet voice and bright sunny morning, people know spring has arrived. By the time India gets ready to welcome spring and its colours, thousands of its people in the narrow lanes and narrower bylanes throw fistfuls of gulal, abir in Bengali, (a kind of powder in different colours), at each other. The festive atmosphere looks and feels differently decent and exuberant as the Kolkatans witness a long procession rolling down on the streets of Burranbazar. 

The spectacle is a delight to experience and enjoy. You can play with thegulal-smeared people or watch things from a distance. In either way, you cannot escape the warmth embrace of colours, care and compassion that bind us together throughout the journey of life. 

The Car: The Showstopper 

A Rolls Royce vintage car is the main attraction of the event, only next to the deities of Lord Krishna and Radha. The air is filled with colours and the sound of cymbas, drums as well as bhajans and other Hindu religious songs. The Rolls Royce makes its way through people dancing and smearing each other with colours inthe bustling area and neighbourhood of Burrabazar. The spirit of celebration weaves a thread of unity across India but the uniqueness at Kolkata’s heart attracts many people from different walks of life. 

On the auspicious day of Holi,Burrabazar looks like a sister city of Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, where the festival is observed with much of reverence and opulence. One can see a slice of Mathura in Burrabazar on the day of Holi. Look around and you can see motley of people in the carnival and at every corner of the street. One can spot gulal-smeared faces in the possession, curious eyes of the bystanders on two sides and photographers adjusting their cameras. None is ready to miss even a single moment of the carnival.The bystanders and those watching the procession from their buildings pay homage to the deities and throw gulal and flowers at the participants. Even the known faces are hardly recognizable. But who owns the car?

Famous British author and Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling, who was born and spent several years in India, was the original owner of the car. He is believed to use the car for six years and finally sell it to Kumar Ganga DharBagla in 1927.The car with the chassis number of #6UE is a rare breed of Rolls Royce. The Bagla family was influential in the colonial period and owned estates in Kolkata.Since then, the car became a part of Kolkata’s heritage. The Bagla family was the main organizer of this famous festive possession. 

On the special day, the car carries the deities of Radha and Krishna from the Satyanarayanan Temple.The car is decked with flowers and fineries. The Rolls Royce helms the procession, with thousands of devotees and revellers following it. The women wearing colourful saree and red tilak with puja thali in their hand approach their chariot and pray to the deities with folded hands. The tinge of colours makes the festival effervescent and the presence of decorated Rolls Royce adds to the charm of the celebration. 

A throne is placed on the top of the car to give it the look of a chariot. The deities of Radha-Krishna are seated on the throne. The procession starts from SatyanarayanJee Temple in Kalakar Street on the 10th day of Fagun (The 11th month on Bengali Calendar), progresses through the Burrabazar area and reaches IshwarSatyanarayanjee Temple at MukharamKanoria Road, which become a temporary house for the deities for a few days. The deities return to their permanent abode on the day before HolikaDahan, a ritual observed on the day before holi. 

The other time the Rolls Royce is taken out is during Janmashtami, a festival to observe Lord Krishna’s birthday. In 1968, the antique car took part in the first Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally in India. The car is now integral to the holy carnival and celebration taken out twice a year on the street of Kolkata. Several age-old things have changed but when the vintage car comes out on the street on these special occasions, time seems to have stood still all through the years. 

Through My Lens
I have tried to cover the festivals from different angles to give you a feel of what I experienced there. I will run out of words to express my amazement and hence, let the pictures talk a lot on my behalf.