page_title: Hola Mohalla
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Hola Mohalla / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: A Sikh boy participating in a gatka performance in Wolverhampton, England.
context_page_description: Hola Mohalla, also called Hola, is a three day long Sikh festival which normally falls in March and 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.
  The fair held during Holi and Hola at Anandpur Sahib is traditionally a three-day event but participants attend Anandpur Sahib for a week, camping out and enjoying various displays of fighting prowess and bravery, and listening to kirtan, music and poetry. For meals, which is an integral part of the Sikh institution, visitors sit together in Pangats and eat vegetarian food of the Langars. The event concludes on the day of Hola Mohalla with a long, "military-style" procession near Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five seats of temporal authority of the Sikhs.
context_section_description: Bhai Kahan Singh, who compiled the Mahan Kosh (the first Sikh encyclopedia) at the turn of the 20th century, explained, "Hola is derived from the word halla (a military charge) and the term mohalla stands for an organized procession or an army column. The words 'Hola Mohalla'  would thus mean 'the charge of an army.' " Dr. M.S. Ahluwalia notes that the related Punjabi term mahalia (which was derived from the root hal, meaning to alight or descend) refers to "an organized procession in the form of an army column accompanied by war drums and standard-bearers, and proceeding to a given location or moving in state from one to another."
  Hola is a Sanskrit word meant to be distinguished from Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colors (Holi) which takes place the day before Hola Mohalla.
caption: A young practitioner with chakari
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D70", "Image XResolution": "72/0", "Image YResolution": "72/0", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image ExifOffset": "90", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9643/1000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "1807/500", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:15 09:37:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:15 09:37:52", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-5/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "62", "EXIF SubSecTime": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "10", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "10", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "93", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Soft", "EXIF Saturation": "Hard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}