Holi festival

Holi is a religious spring festival celebrated

by Hindus, as a festival of colours.It is

primarily observed in India and Nepal. It is

observed by the minority Hindus in

Bangladesh and Pakistan as well in countries

with large Indic diaspora populations

following Hinduism.

In Vaishnavism , Hiranyakashipu is the great

king of demons, and he had been granted a boon

by Brahma, which made it almost impossible for

him to be killed. The boon was due to his long

penance, after which he had demanded that he

not be killed "during day or night; inside the home or outside, not on earth or in the sky; neither by a

man nor an animal; neither by astra nor

by shastra".

Consequently, he grew arrogant and attacked the

Heavens and the Earth. He demanded that people

stop worshipping Gods and start praising

respectfully to him.

According to this belief, Hiranyakashipu's own

son, Prahlada, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. In

spite of several threats from Hiranyakashipu,

Prahlada continued offering prayers to Lord

Vishnu.

He was poisoned by Hiranyakashipu, but the

poison turned to nectar in his mouth. He was

ordered to be trampled by elephants yet remained

unharmed. He was put in a room with hungry,

poisonous snakes and survived. All of

Hiranyakashipu's attempts to kill his son failed.

Finally, he ordered young Prahlada to sit on

a pyre in the lap of Holika, Hiranyakashipu's

demoness sister, , who also could not die because

she had a boon preventing her from being burned

by fire.Prahlada readily accepted his father's

orders, and prayed to Lord Vishnu to keep him

safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in

amazement as Holika burnt to death, while

Prahlada survived unharmed. The salvation of

Prahlada and burning of Holika is celebrated as

Holi.

In Mathura , where Lord Krishna grew up, in

commemoration of the divine love of Radha for

Krishna. The festivities officially usher in spring,

the celebrated season of love.

Every year, thousands of Hindus participate in

the festival Holi. The festival has many

purposes. First and foremost, it celebrates the

beginning of the new season, spring. Originally,

it was a festival that commemorated good

harvests and the fertile land. Hindus believe it

is a time of enjoying spring's abundant colors

and saying farewell to winter.

It also has a religious purpose, commemorating

events present in Hindu mythology. Although it

is the least religious holiday, it is probably one

of the most exhilarating ones in existence.

During this event, participants hold a bonfire,

throw colored powder at each other, and

celebrate wildly.

Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a

Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking

the end of festivities involving colors.

The main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli in

Sanskrit, or Dhulheti,Dhulandi or Dhulendi, is

celebrated by people throwing scented powder

and perfume at each other. Bonfires are lit on the eve of the festival, also known as Holika

Dahan (burning of Holika) or Chhoti holi.

The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraclous

Escape that young Prahlad accomplished

when demoness Holika , carried him into fire.

Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch

devotee of god Vishnu, escaped without any

injuries due to his devotion. Holika Dahan is

referred to as Kama Dahanam in South India.

Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter

season on the last full moon day of the lunar

month Phalguna which usually falls in the

later part of February or March.

In most areas, Holi lasts about two days. Holi

lowers the strictness of social norms, which

includes gaps between age, gender, status, and

caste.

Together, the rich and poor, women and men,

enjoy each other’s presence on this joyous day.

No one expects polite behavior; as a result, the

atmosphere is filled with excitement, fun and

joy.

Though there have been references in Sanskrit

texts to similar festivals, like ratnavali where

people sprayed coloured waters using bamboo

syringes, the origin of the modern Holi festival

has been traced to ancient Bengal. It was

a Gaudiya Vaishnav festival, in accordance to

Vaishnaviya Tantra. People went

to Krishna temples, applied red color to the

icon and then distributed the red coloured

powder or Abir along with malpua prasad to

family and friends.

Red signified the colour of passion and Lord

Krishna is the king of desires. The ritual signified that all our desires should be

diverted for the attainment of Krishna and

for the well being of society.

In some cultures though, the ritual of burning

wood and leaves on the full moon night

already existed.

This ritual was to signify the end of winter

and full advent of spring. Old wood and leaves that had fallen were burnt to signify

that it was time for new leaves and flowers.

People then smeared their bodies with ash.

Later, however, the story of Holika Dahan

became associated with this ritual.

The earliest textual reference to the celebration

of Holi is found in the 7th century Sanskrit

drama, Ratnavali. Certainly there are

perennial rituals attached to Holi: the first is

smearing of coloured powder on each other,

and throwing coloured and scented water at

each time. On the first day of this festival,

Hindus participate in a public bonfire.

Prior to the event, men prepare for this by

collecting extra wood. The fire itself is lit near

midnight, as the moon rises.

The main custom of Holi is the use of the

colored powders and water on others. This is

why Holi is given the name “Festival of

Colors.”

An alleged environmental issue related to the

celebration of Holi is the traditional Holika

Dahan bonfire, which is believed to

contribute to deforestation. A local tabloid

had a view published that 30,000 bonfires

each burning approximately 100 kg of wood

are lit in one season.

Several methods of preventing this big

consumption of wood have been proposed ,

including the replacement of wood with

waste material or lighting of a single fire per

community, rather than multiple smaller

fires. However, the idea of lighting waste

material antagonizes large sections of a

certain community who take it as a

Western attack to their cultures and

traditions citing several examples of similar

festivities elsewhere. There is also concern

about the large scale wastage of water and

water-pollution due to synthetic colors during

Holi celebration .