Lord Krishna has often been portrayed as a naughty
prankster in his childhood and a lover-boy in his youth. His beloved
Radha and the cowherd girls 'Gopis' in general loved him even more for
his pranks and eve teasing. The Holi of Braj is famous all over India
for its intimate connection with the divine deities and their love
plays. It is said that when Krishna was a young boy, he asked the reason
for his dark color while Radha was so fair. His mother Yashoda playfully
suggested that he should smear color on Radha's face too and change her
complexion to any color he wanted. Captivated by the idea, Krishna
proceeded to do so and thus, introduced the play of colors on Holi.
Even today, Holi is one of the most important festival of Braj, where
the men of Nandgaon and women of Barsana play 'latthmar Holi' in the
remembrance of the playful throw of colors by Krishna on 'Gopis' and
their resistance. The trace of eroticism and romance pervades Holi as
depicted in the love plays of Krishna and Radha. In Mathura, Vrindavan,
Gokul and Barsana, Holi is a two-week long festival featuring play of
colors, folk songs called 'Hori', folk dances such as Raas-Lila, staging
the various aspects of Radha and Krishna's love.
