Langars in every home and people living in trucks and on the roads—that’s the scene in Anandpur Sahib on holi. And the reason is the famed three-day festival of Holla Mohalla. Established by the 10th guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, on 22 February 1701, this was a day of sporting for the holy warriors, called the nihang dals. Their fight was against the tyrannical Mughals. Celebrating this, the dals celebrate this day with a showmanship of martial arts and horsemanship. Sword fighting, tent pegging, archery and other martial skills can be seen on an extremely crowded ground.

And there’s also the horse polo championship organised by Anandpur Sahib Heritage Foundation from 10-12 March 2017. In this season, a polo team from USA will play India for the ‘Sri Anandpur Sahib International Gold Cup’. The Anandpur Sahib Heritage Foundation has been established by Sodhi Vikram Singh who is an international polo player and introduced polo to Anandpur Sahib in 2014.