*||*HAPPY HOLI TO ALL*||*

Page

poonam

@Angel_Luv

Stunner

+ 4

Posted: 11 years ago

https://i.123g.us/c/emar_holi_happy/card/110282.gif

Introduction

Holi , is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours.Holi is a festival of radiance (Teja) in the universe. During this festival, different waves of radiance traverse the universe, thereby creating various colors that nourish and complement the function of respective elements in the atmosphere. Originally, Holi was afertility festival.

History of Holi

Holi is an ancient festival of India and was originally known as 'Holika'. There are various legends to explain the meaning of this word, most prominent of all is the legend associated with demon king Hiranyakashyap.

Hiranyakashyap wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship only him but to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. Hiaranyakashyap commanded his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a boon whereby she could enter fire without any damage on herself. However, she was not aware that the boon worked only when she enters the fire alone. As a result she paid a price for her sinister desires, while Prahlad was saved by the grace of the god for his extreme devotion. The festival, therefore, celebrates the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion.

Legend of Lord Krishna is also associated with play with colors as the Lord started the tradition of play with colours by applying colour on his beloved Radha and other gopis. Gradually, the play gained popularity with the people and became a tradition.

There is alternate story detailing the origin of Holi. This story is about KamaDeva a god of love. Kama's body was destroyed when he shot his weapon at Shiva in order to disrupt his meditation and help Parvati to marry Shiva. Shiva then opened his third eye, the gaze of which was so powerful that Kama's body was reduced to ashes. For the sake of Kama's wife Rati (passion), Shiva restored him, but only as a mental image, representing the true emotional and spiritual state of love rather than physical lust. The Holi bonfire is believed to be celebrated in commemoration of this event.

There are also a few other legends associated with the festival - like the legend of Shiva and Kaamadeva and those of Ogress Dhundhi and Pootana. All depict triumph of good over evil - lending a philosophy to the festival.

Holi Celebrations

hhoThe celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love. Holi has certainly perennial rituals attached to it, the first is smearing of colored powder on each other, and throwing water, colored and scented using pichkaris, shaped like giant syringes or squirt guns. Though the festival really begins many days in advance, with 'Holi Milan' or Baithaks, musical soirees, where song related to the festival, and the epic love story of Radha Krishna are sung; specially type of folk songs, known as "Hori" are sung as well.

First comes Choti Holi or 'Little Holi'. This is the night of the big bonfire, so everyone gets busy collecting firewood. Families and friends get together around the bonfire, put together mostly by the men and children. The women busy themselves as well. As every festival has its own ritualistic cuisine, so does Holi (see Cuisine).

Holika Dahan: The Holi bonfire

Holi Pooja takes place a day before the Holi Festival. This day is called as 'Holika Dahan'. There is no special pooja performed on the Holi day. This day is only meant for celebrations and play of colors. Holika Dahan is the major ritual performed at the time of Holi which is also considered an important Holi Puja. People light bonfires on the eve of Holi festival to celebrate the victory of 'good' over 'bad' which is called Holika Dahan.

Holi Pooja Process or Holika Dahan Process

Holika Dahan preparations begin almost 40 days before the festival. People start gathering woods on the important crossroads of the city. Holi Pooja or Holika takes place on an auspicious time in the evening a day before the Holi festival. Given below are the steps and rituals for the Holi Pooja:

Holi Pooja can be performed at any place.
A log of wood is kept at a prominent public place on the Vasant Panchami day.
People extend the log centre with twigs, dried leaves, branches of trees and other combustible material.
On the day of Holika Dahan, an effigy of Holika and Prahlad is placed on the huge heap of woods.
Effigy of Holika is made of combustible material while Prahlad's effigy is made of non-combustible material.
On the eve of Holi, the heap is set alight and the people chant Rakshoghna Mantras of the Rig Veda to cast away the evil spirits.
Left over ashes are collected by people next morning. These ashes are considered holy and are smeared on the limbs of the body as Holi Prasad.
Smearing of body limbs is an act of purification.

Holi Pooja is performed in a different manner in some communities. Marwari women offer Holi puja in the afternoon and evening i.e. before setting fire to 'Holika'. It is called 'Thandi Holi'. The whole puja process is considered very auspicious for the married women. It ensures well-being and healthy life of their husband.

Quote

Frequent Posters

poonam

@Angel_Luv

Stunner

+ 4

Posted: 11 years ago

HAPPY HOLI

Dulhendi { Traditional Holi }

The colourful festival of Holi is celebrated by different names in this vast and culturally diverse country. The traditions followed for the festival varies a little and at times a lot as one moves from one state to other studying the various facets of the festival and getting behind the various colours of it.

Nowhere it is celebrated with so much charm and enthusiasm as in Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana and Nandgaon - the places associated with the birth and childhood of Lord Krishna. At Barsana Holi assumes the name of Lathmaar Holi. Here, women of Barsana give a tough time to men of Nandgaon as they come to play Holi with them. Women drag the unlucky captives, beat them, dress them in a female attire - yet all is in the spirit of Holi.

Women of Haryana, specifically the bhabhis too get an upper hand on the day as they get a social sanction to beat their devars and take a sweet revenge for all the mischiefs they have played on them. This revengeful tradition is called the Dulandi Holi.

The most enjoyable tradition of Holi, of course, apart from the play of colours is the tradition ofbreaking the pot. It is celebrated with much fan fair in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Here a pot of buttermilk is hung high on the streets. Men form a huge human pyramid and one on the top breaks the pot with his head. All this while women keep singing Holi folk songs and throwing buckets and buckets of water. The tradition has its roots in the mischievous nature of Lord Krishna who was so fond of butter milk that he used to steal it from every accessible house in the village. To hide the butter from young Krishna, womenfolk used to hang it high. All in vain!

Holi is celebrated in the most dignified manner in the state of Bengal. At Vishwa Bharti University, founded by Rabindranath Tagore founded the tradition of celebrating Holi as 'Basant Utsav' or'Spring Festival'. Students decorate the campus with intricate rangolis and carry out prabhat pheris in the morning. Clad in a traditional attire young boys and girls sing songs composed by Gurudev and present an enchanting view to the onlookers who gather in large number here. In other parts of Bengal, Holi is celebrated as Dol Yatra where the idols of Radha and Krishna are placed on a decorated palanquin and taken out in a procession.

For Sikhs, Holi calls for the display of their physical strength and military prowess as they gather at Anandpur Sahib a day after Holi to celebrate Hola Mohalla. The tradition was started by the tenth and last guru of Sikh religion, Guru Gobind Singh ji and is being religiously carried forward.

In the north east, Manipuris celebrate the festival in a colourful manner for six continuous days. Here, the centuries old Yaosang Festival of Manipur amalgated with Holi with the introduction of Vaishnavism in the eighteenth century. The highlight of the festival here is a special Manipuri dance, called 'Thabal Chongba'.

Well, there are many-many more ways in which Holi is celebrated. Different states, different cities and different villages have come out with their unique and innovative styles of playing Holi. It may not be possible to describe all of them at one place. What is noteworthy though is the fact that the spirit of Holi remains the same throughout. It is the festival which generates the spirit of brotherhood and bring people close - and this is what matters most than anything else.

What enhances the spirit of Holi though is the tradition of consuming the intoxicating bhang. It is generally consumed with thandai or as pakoras. People go high on it and enjoy the festival to the hilt. Other Holi delicacies include gujiya, mathri, malpua, puranpoli, dahi badas, etc. After a frenzied play of colours people love to gorge them up.

Hola Mohalla
Shimgo
Kaman Pandigai
Phagu Purnima
Lathmaar Holi
Dulandi Holi
Rangpanchami
Basant Utsav
Dol Purnima

Meaning of Colors

Red symbolizes: action, confidence, courage, vitality
Pink symbolizes: love, beauty
Brown symbolizes: earth, order, convention
Orange symbolizes: vitality with endurance
Gold symbolizes: Wealth, prosperity, wisdom
Yellow symbolizes: wisdom, joy, happiness, intellectual energy
Green symbolizes: life, nature, fertility, well being
Blue symbolizes: youth, spirituality, truth, peace
Purple symbolizes: Royalty, magic, mystery
White symbolizes: Purity, Cleanliness
Black symbolizes: Death, earth, stability
Gray symbolizes: Sorrow, security, maturity

Holi Safety Tips

Here are a few tips and suggestion to make your holi safe and joyous.

Play safe. Don't get to boisterous and do not let others to be rude on you.
The best option would be to play with natural home made colours. Your skin and hair will feel tampered with the use of skin friendly natural products.
If natural colours are not possible, then ensure a better quality of colours. Buy colours from a reputed shop or vendor.
Use more of red or pink colours which looks good and can easily taken off. Gaudy purple, green, yellow, orange have more harmful chemicals in them and should be avoided.
Make sure that your face is well creamed before and after the play.
Apply thick coating of paint on your nails- both in fingers and toes so that they remain protected.
Oil your hair well, so that colour doesn't stick on your hair and can be washed off easily later.
Cover your hair. Make use of hat or caps to protect your hair from being coloured with hard-to-rinse dyes.
Make sure that powder or any other product does not get inside your eyes. Eyes are extremely vulnerable on Holi because of their strategic place in body and also because of the use of harmful chemicals in colors these days. Please ensure that your eyes remain protected at all times. Use a sunglass to protect your eyes from a misfire of colour filled darts or water jets.
Use dental caps to save your teeth from any unwanted stains.
Put on your worst clothes so that you won't have to take on the hassles of an immediate washing.
Rags like tattered denims and bright shades like black, blue, green, purple are highly recommended.
Try to save yourself off from all possible attacks on the face. In case your such attempts fail, keep your eyes and lips tightly shut if you are attacked on your face.
If possible avoid going outside your home, atleast for the peak hours of celebration. The premises of your home ensure that you are safe from pouncing hooligans, even friends who can be a little rough on the day.
When traveling keep the car windows thoroughly shut, even if you don't have an AC car. Do not bump into the frenzied group of mob if you take to streets. Better you cross the road to the sidewalk across. Or, simply stay at a safe distance.
Do not use permanent dyes. If someone has applied it on you, do not rub the face with soap immediately in order to get rid off it, especially when it is wet. Instead, use good qualitycleansing milk for removal. It's better than using soap, which will dry up your skin.
Rotten eggs when thrown on your head, flying missiles from locality buildings'are still not too bad, will be smelly yet is a good conditioner for your hair. But tar, shit, Mobil, stones and all the rubbish that you can be hit with is not. Avoid being a prey to hooligans.
Remember you also have police on your side and if any untoward revelers misbehave, you can make your complaint. Mark out the locality, building and if possible the person.
Take a bath much later after the entire Holi celebration is over. Taking frequent baths, washing the face again and again, will ruin your skin. You will also lose hair, for too much soap/shampoo has a drying effect.
If you are prone to skin allergies, avoid playing with gulal altogether. Going to a dermatologist (skin specialist) serves no purpose, after the damage is done.
Avoid running on jumping on wet floors, so that you don't slip and injure yourself. Bones are specially vulnerable on this day.
Avoid over indulgence in bhang, drinks or food... so that you don't repent later.
Do not drive if you are high on alcohol or bhang.
Keep handy pain killers, anti-oxidants, anti-allergic tablets if all the above tips have been disregarded.