Hola Mohalla is the Khalsa in public and it is not a metaphor. Guru Gobind Singh instituted it at Anandpur Sahib in 1701 as a martial counterpart to Holi — others have Holi, mine is Hola, in the line traditionally attributed to him — and the three days involve mock battles, tent-pegging, bareback riding, gatka displays and a final procession from Takht Kesgarh Sahib. The Nihangs, the standing armed order in blue, run it, and the event is where they are most visible: enormous dumalla turbans, steel weapons worn openly, and the ritual preparation of sukha or degh, a cannabis drink they defend as a battlefield tradition and which mainstream Sikh bodies say plainly violates the prohibition on intoxicants. That argument recurs every March. Attendance runs to about a million, the roadside langars are continuous, and the Punjabi state deals with it as a logistics problem.