Hola Mohalla is a Sikh festival that takes place on the second day of the lunar month of Chet, a day after the Hindu spring festival Holi.
Hola Mohalla, also called Hola, is a three-day long Sikh festival which normally falls in March. It takes place on the second day of the lunar month of Chett, a day after the Hindu spring festival Holi but sometimes coincides with Holi. Hola Mohalla is a big festive event for Sikhs around the world.
Together the words "Hola Mohalla" stand for "mock fight." During this festival, processions are organized in the form of army type columns accompanied by war-drums and standard-bearers, proceeding to a given spot or moving in state from one Gurdwara to another.
The custom originated in the time of Guru Gobind Singh, who held the first such mock fight event at Anandpur Sahib in February 1701. The foothills of the Shivaliks in Ropar district of Punjab's north-eastern region, especially around the historic townships of Anandpur Sahib and Kiratpur Sahib, have, since 1701 been playing host to Hola Mohalla.
The military exercise, which was personally supervised by the Guru, was carried out on the bed of the River Charan Ganga with the famous Hindu temple of Mata Naina Devi in the Shivaliks as the backdrop.
The Indian government eventually accorded it the status of a national festival.
The Hola Mahalla festival is unique and distinguishable from other festivals in that the Nihang have tried to preserve the traditional form and content as established during its inception, and strictly observed by the Akalis, for more than three centuries.
source: Sikhdharma.org
On this three-day grand festival, mock battles, exhibitions, displays of weapons, etc. are held, followed by Kirtan, music and poetry competitions. The participants perform daring feats, such as Gatka (mock encounters with real weapons), tent pegging, bareback horse-riding, standing erect on two speeding horses and various other feats of bravery.
Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru built upon the story of Prahlad and founded the festival of Hola Mohalla. He summoned his followers to attend Anandpur on Holi when he introduced a new rally in 1680 to coincide with Holi where his followers could practice manoeuvres and combat training. However, Guru Gobind Singh organized the first procession accompanied by drums in Anandpur on 22 February 1701 A.D. The new tradition of overseeing mock battles and poetry contests at Lohgarh Fort has since spread from the town of Anandpur Sahib to nearby Kiratpur Sahib and the foothills of the Shivaliks, and to other Gurdwaras around the world. According to Singh (2018), "during the celebrations of Hola Mohalla a sword is most in demand at Nanded, since each participant in the procession (jaloos) must have it in his hand".
Sikh tradition holds that Guru Gobind Singh also participated in the colorful festival with the use of gulal (colorful powders) which has survived into modern times with Nihangs "splashing gulal (red farinaceous powder) on each other and the audience".