Hola Mohalla 2028: Date, History & Significance

The Guru turned the passive, colour-throwing Holi into 'Hola' — an active, masculine form — and 'Mohalla', a mock assault: the Sikhs would divide into two forces, stage an attack on a position, and be judged on their skill, then be honoured in the darbar. The Nihang Sikhs, the warrior order, lead it still, with tent-pegging, bareback riding standing on two horses, sword and spear play, and the blue bana dress.

At Anandpur Sahib the three-day mela draws lakhs, ending with a procession from Takht Keshgarh Sahib through the town and across the Charan Ganga bed. Langar is served on a huge scale. Kirtan, dhadi vars (ballads of valour) and kavi darbar run alongside the physical displays.

Guru Gobind Singh, building the Sikhs into a people able to defend faith and the weak, held the first Hola Mohalla at Anandpur on Chaitra vadi 1, 1701. He wanted the community's spring festival to train courage and arms, not only spirits, and to keep the Khalsa ready. The Nihangs have carried the tradition unbroken since.

Source: Sikh historical sources and the janamsakhi tradition

Hola Mohalla dates to 1701 and Anandpur Sahib; it has been kept continuously by the Nihang orders and is now a state festival of Punjab, with the Anandpur mela among the largest religious gatherings in North India.

• SGPC and Sikh historical scholarship
• Nanakshahi and Bikrami calendar reckonings

1. On the day after Holi, Sikhs gather at Anandpur Sahib for the festival Guru Gobind Singh began in 1701 as a display of martial skill.
2. Nihang Singhs in blue perform gatka, horsemanship, tent-pegging and mock battles, and a procession moves between the gurdwaras.
3. Kirtan, poetry contests and a vast langar run through the three days.

• Anandpur Sahib. The three-day mela — mock battles, Nihang martial displays, gatka, kavi darbar, langar, and the closing Nagar Kirtan.
• Punjab and Sikh centres worldwide. Gatka and kirtan programmes at gurdwaras the day after Holi.

• Langar — Community kitchens along the roads to Anandpur feed lakhs of pilgrims.
• Shardai — A cooling almond drink served by the Nihangs.

Hola Mohalla is kept on the day when Pratipada of Chaitra Krishna paksha prevails at sunrise. This year it falls on Saturday, 11 March 2028. Pratipada does not hold at sunrise on any of the nearby days. Pratipada begins after sunrise on Saturday, 11 March and ends before the next sunrise.

at sunrise

Tithi skipped (kshaya)

Hola Mohalla follows the Chaitra Krishna Pratipada — the day after Holi. Most Gurpurabs use the lunar Bikrami calendar, so the Gregorian date shifts each year; the Nanakshahi calendar (2003, revised) assigns several of them fixed solar dates, and both reckonings are in use in different quarters of the Panth.

A lunar date: Pratipada of the dark half of Chaitra drifts about 11 days earlier each solar year, then jumps back ~19 days when a leap (Adhika) month is inserted.