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Australian celebrity chef Gary Mehigan’s most intense experience of Holi was in the temple towns of Vrindavan and Mathura, where celebrations stretch over 40 days.
“What really struck me was the level of devotion,” he says. “So many people celebrate Holi around the world now — throwing colour, having fun — but in Vrindavan and Mathura, it’s deeply spiritual. It’s about Radha and Krishna. People treat them almost like part of the family.”
He remembers long days filming as colour drifted through the air and the streets filled with music, rituals and food. Breakfast often meant kachori with aloo from a roadside stall, followed by steaming cups of chai.
He also learned to make thandai — the sweet almond-and-poppy-seed milk drink inextricably linked with Holi. “The thandai is just beautiful,” he says. “So complex, so layered.”
But beneath the colour and festivity, what stayed with him most was belonging. “It isn’t just a party,” he says. “It’s community, faith and connection on a scale I’ve never seen anywhere else.”
Read more about Gary’s India experience here.
