Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, marks the start of spring, as it takes place on the full-moon day of the Hindu calendar month Phalguna. Its an ancient Hindu festival with its own cultural rituals which emerged before the Gupta period. The festival of colours finds mentioned in numerous scriptures, such as in works like Jaimini's Purva Mimamsa Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras with even more detailed descriptions in ancient texts like the Narada Purana and Bhavishya Purana.
The festival of "holikotsav" was also mentioned in the 7th century work, Ratnavali, by King Harsha. It is mentioned in the Puranas, Dasakumara Charita by Daṇḍin, and by the poet Kālidāsa during the 4th century reign of Chandragupta II.
L e g e n d s
This story involves the demon king Hiranyakashipu who was granted five magical wishes from the deity Shiva for his protection. This made him believe that he was inevitable so he ordered everyone to worship him, but his son Prahlad denied and continued to worship Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu got furious and ordered Holika his demon sister to kill Prahlad as Holika was immune to fire. A pyre was lit and Holika sat on it with Prahlad on her lap. Holika was wearing a cloak that made her immune to injury from fire, while Prahlad was not. As the fire spread, the cloak flew from Holika and encased Prahlad who survived while Holika burned. Later Lord Vishnu in the form of Narasimha – half human and half lion (which is neither a human nor an animal), at dusk (when it was neither day nor night), took Hiranyakashipu at a doorstep (which was neither indoors nor outdoors), placed him on his lap (which was neither land, water nor air), and then eviscerated and killed the king with his lion claws (which were neither a handheld weapon nor a launched weapon).The Holika bonfire and Holi signifies the celebration of the symbolic victory of good over evil, of Prahlad over Hiranyakashipu, and of the fire that burned Holika.
In the Braj region of India, the festival is celebrated until Rang Panchmi in commemoration of Radha & Krishna's divine love for each other. The festivities officially usher in spring, with Holi celebrated as a festival of love. Legend has it Krishna despaired whether the fair-skinned Radha would like him because of his dark skin colour. His mother Yashoda, tired of his desperation, asks him to approach Radha and ask her to colour his face in any colour she wanted. This Radha did, and Radha and Krishna became a couple.The ritual of throwing colored powder is said to stem from here.
The Kama legend and its significance to Holi has many variant forms, particularly in South India. After the death of Sati, Shiva was extremely distressed and sought solace in deep meditation. The world suffered a lot as Lord Shiva could not be roused. Goddess Parvati wanting to bring Shiva back into the world, seeks help from the Hindu god of love called Kamadeva on Vasant Panchami. The love god shoots arrows at Shiva, the yogi opens his third eye and burns Kama to ashes. This upsets both Kama's wife Rati (Kamadevi) and his own wife Parvati. Rati performs her own meditative asceticism for forty days, upon which Shiva understands, forgives out of compassion and restores the god of love. This return of the god of love, is celebrated on the 40th day after the Vasant Panchami festival as Holi.
H o w i t s C e l e b r a t e d ?
The night before Holi is called Holika Dahan or "Chhoti Holi" whereby people gather around a lit bonfire, symbolising the victory of good over evil and removal of the old and the arrival of the new. Various rituals are performed around the fire such as singing and dancing. The next morning is celebrated as Rangwali Holi (Dhuleti) where people smear and drench each other with colours. Water guns and water-filled balloons are often used to play and colour each other, with anyone and any place being considered fair game to colour. Groups often carry drums and other musical instruments going from place to place singing and dancing. Throughout the day people visit family, and friends and foes come together to chat, enjoy food and drink, and partake in Holi delicacies.
With that we the crazy creatives along with the entire team at IF wish you and your loved ones a very safe, fun filled and happy Holi.
Credits: oh nakhrewaali | ExoticDisaster
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