Barsana

The village of Barsana in Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh — the ancestral village of Radha in the Krishna devotional tradition and the primary site of the Lathmar Holi festival. The Lathmar Holi ('stick Holi') is the Braj Mandal's distinctive form of Holi celebration: women of Barsana (Radha's village) drive the men of Nandgaon (Krishna's village, 4 kilometres away) back with sticks (lathis) in a theatrical reversal of Krishna's visits to Radha. The festival takes place a week before the main Holi and includes two days of alternating stick-chasing between the two villages. The 1675 Shriji temple at Barsana (dedicated to Radha, built by Rupa Goswami's disciples) is the central pilgrimage. The Rangili Mahal palace of Vrishabhanu (Radha's father) and the Barsana hill with 101 steps complete the heritage. The annual Lathmar Holi draws over 500,000 pilgrims. UNESCO tentative Braj Mandal nomination since 2014.