Holi goes online as coronavirus fears keep people at home

• People are choosing to stay home this year for Holi amid fear of coronavirus.
• You can still celebrate the festival by tapping into live streams and using Holi stickers on WhatsApp, Hike and other social networking platforms.
• Games like Teen Patti Gold and PUBG have also added Holi-themed features.

Amid fears of coronavirus and the tense environment created by India’s new citizenship laws, not everyone is in the mood to step out of the house to celebrate Holi, the Indian festival of colours.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind announced their plans to stay away from Holi celebrations due to the this year because of the coronavirus threat. All over the country, people are taking precautions and avoiding when it comes to mass gatherings.

The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to leave your house in order to celebrate Holi. Everything that makes the festival fun — like chilling with friends, splashing throwing colours at each other, and playing games — can be done online.

Participating in the biggest Holi celebrations across India
The biggest Holi celebrations in India are hosted in Uttar Pradesh. You can tune in for what’s happening by tapping into the live stream by Vrindavan TV.


You can even catch the annual Warrior Holi, or Hola Mohalla, taking place in Anandpur Sahib in Punjab online. Nihangs — Sikh warriors who claim to be descendants of the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Gobind Singh — perform physical feats and participate in mock battles using real weapons.

Getting everyone together
One of the biggest pulls of Holi is getting to celebrate the festival with friends and family. One way to undercut the threat of coronavirus and still be in touch is to hop online and get on a video call.

WhatsApp, Skype, and Google Hangouts are only some of the options on the table that allow for multiple people on a single one video call.


You also use social networking apps like Hike and TikTok to share the sentiment of Holi without stepping out. Both introduced new Holi-themed stickers and filters last week. On TikTok, #HappHoli2020 is currently trending.

Multiplayer-gaming
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile is celebrating Holi in its own way. Players can earn items in-game by collecting gulal. The more tasks you complete, the more gulal you have in your kitty, and the more items you can redeem — including outfits, Holi-themed skin for you DP28, and a gulal trail as you jump from the plane.


If PUBG isn’t your cup of tea, you can always go old-school with Teen Patti Gold — a mobile game based on a three-card poker that’s popular in India. The developers just added a new feature that allows players to haul dye and throw paint at one another across the table while playing the game.

See also:
Coronavirus cast a shadow on Holi, traders report fewer customers

Coronavirus may make Holi colours costlier by 50% this year

Vrindavan will stay away from Holi amid coronavirus outbreak