~* The Carnival of Colours - Happy Holi *~

Holi is one of the major festivals of India and is the most vibrant of all. The joy of Holi knows no bound and it is celebrated with great vigour across the w o r l d .

Mathura and Vrindavan: The Traditional Tale

Holi at Mathura and Vrindavana is celebrated with great gusto for many days. For, these were the places where Krishna spent most of his c h i l d h o o d . Situated in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the celebration there spans over a week or so. Each major temple, housing the idols of Krishna and Radha, celebrates Holi on a different day. People throng the temples to get drenched with colored water and consider it a blessing from the God. The most interesting part of this celebration is that, men from Nandagaon come to B a r s a n a to celebrate Holi with the women here, who are ready to beat them with sticks instead of playing withgulal, as Radha belonged to Barsana while Krishna hailed from Nandagaon.

Bihar: The clean and tidy holi

In Bihar, people clean their houses a week before Holi and start collectingtwigs, unnecessary furniture, chopped wood of araad, redi tree and pile it up at some place for lighting the H o l i k a. On the first day of Holi, thalis of colour and a pot of liquid colour are arranged. The elder member of the family applies some colour on the forehead of each member in the family. Each family member repeats the same. Youngsters apply colours on the feet of their elders. People gather together for the Holika fire. At some places mud baths are prepared. High-pitched folk songs, use of dholaks along with drinking of bhang are seen during Holi.

Maharashtra and Gujrat : The Buttermilk festival

In Maharashtra and Gujarat, a grand procession of men soaked with coloured water walk through the streets with a mock alert call that asks people to take care of the pots of butter and milk as Krishna is on his way.This refers to Krishna's habit of stealing butter and milk stored in terracotta pots from people's homes. There is also a t r a d i t i o n of hanging a pot of buttermilk high up in the street. Men forming a human staircase try to break this pot, and whoever succeeds is crowned as theHoli King of the locality for that year.

Bengal : The Dol Yatra Utsav

In Bengal, Holi is called the Dol Yatra, or the swing festival.Traditionally, the festival is celebrated with idols of Krishna andRadha placed on swings and devotees take turns to swing them. Women dance around the swing and sing devotional songs, as men spray coloured water and powder called Abeer. However, recent trend does not see much of those traditions. People play with colored waters, powders in the morning. P r o c e s s i o n s on the streets with bands and with faces and bodies covered with Holi colours follows later.

Uttar Pradesh : The Puno Day rituals

In Uttar Pradesh, effigies of Holika are burnt. On the night of Holi(Phalgun Poornima), it is lit with the chanting of R a k s o g n a Mantras from Rig-Veda and so on. People offer prayers to the fire and pray for a good harvest. This day is also called as P u n o. They offer gram and stalks from the harvest along with coconuts and flowers to render gratitude. It is believed that Holi is named after fried cereals or parched grains called, as Holla in Sanskrit. It is also a tradition to offer wheat and oat. Scorched coconuts are taken home as Prasad.

Punjab: The Warriors' festival

H o l a M o h a l l a is an annual festival in Punjab's Sikh community. It is a three-day festival and it incorporates events such as standing on two running horses, bareback horse riding, mock fights and tent pegging.Kirtan and religious lectures are also arranged in durbars in the presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.On the last day, a procession is led byP a n j P y a r a s from Takht Keshgarh Sahib. This procession passes through several important Gurudwaras like Qila Anadgarh, Lohgarh Sahib, Mata Jitoji and terminates at the Takht. For people visiting Anandpur Sahib, langars are organized as a part of sewa.

Himachal Pradesh : The Icy Celebration

In Himachal Pradesh thousands of people gather at Ponta-Sahib, a holyshrine in the Sirmour district on the banks of Yamuna River. People here are more e n t h u s i a s t i c about playing colours. Fascinating Ice Holi is played in Kullu. People gather at the Slang Pass and makecolourful snowballs by mixing colour and snow.

As we said earlier, Holi knows no bars, no boundaries. Just like in India, people settled abroad meet their friends and exchange sweets andgreetings. Of course, the revelry is no less when it comes to c o l o u r s.

USA: Glimpses of India

Holi festival is celebrated with much ardour in the countries like USA. A sizable population of Indians can be found in the USA, which tells us the reason why the festival is observed with such gaiety there. In USA,religious organizations and societies take the responsibility of organizing the festival. Musical programs and meets are conducted to fill the air with the s p i r i t of India. New York is completely dabbled by the colourful waters. Holi is marked by parades attended by Indians, rejoicing and playing with colours in the midst.

UK : Colouring the British City

In UK, the revelry of Holi is seen profoundly at places with a large congregation of Indians. The enthusiasm reaches its peak on the occasion of Holi. The joyous festival is marked with social gatherings and exchange of sweets. People enjoy the day by smearing c o l o u r s on each other and playing with water, just as it is done back home, in India. People apply tilak on each other's forehead to welcome and hug each other to wish.

South Africa: Colours of India

The Indians settled in South Africa have made it a point to keep thetradition of celebrating Holi alive. The Indians in South Africa play with colours, on the occasion of Holi. They sing songs, which is one of the prominent parts of the celebrations. People exchange g i f t s and greeteach other.

Mauritius : Traditions of India

Just as any other major Hindu festival, the large Indian majority celebrateHoli with a lot of enthusiasm in the island of Mauritius. It is an official holiday in the country and people get all the time to make merry. Hindus, here duly perform the tradition of H o l i k a D a h a n or lighting of bonfire on the eve of Holi and celebrate the victory of good over evil. Next day people revel and play with colours and drench everybody with water jets called pichkaris. While in the evening, they greet each other withtilak and exchange sweets.

Bangladesh: Celebration over the border

Indian culture has influenced Bangladesh a lot as the country is nestled in the crook of the Bay of Bengal and is surrounded by India. Of course, the pomp and show of Holi as witnessed in India is m i s s i n g ,nevertheless, celebrations do take place. The Hindu community gather intemples and exchange greetings with each other and play with colours.