In India, the festival of Holi marks the arrival of spring, the season of joy. Prominently known as the festival of colors, it spans over three days and is a celebration of the triumph of good versus evil, love, fertility, and color.
On Day 1, i.e. the full moon day (Holi Purnima) colored powder and water are arranged in a thali. The celebration begins when the eldest member sprinkles color on the rest of the family members.
On Day 2, also known as ‘Puno’ – Holika’s images are burnt, and people light bonfires to remember the great legend.
On Day 3, also known as ‘Parva’ – colored powder and water is smeared on one another.
Watch interesting facts about Holi festival here.
Holi is celebrated differently in different parts of the country, and there are many stories behind the significance of this beautiful festival.
Significance of Holi Festival:
Holi is believed to have been celebrated several centuries before the birth of Christ. There is a brief mention of the festival in Kathaka-Grhya-Sutra and Jaimini’s Purva Mimamsa-Sutras. Not only this, various ancient Indian temples have walls sculpted with figurines that portray Holi celebration.
For instance, a 16th-century temple in Hampi showcases royal families along with their maids holding pichkaris to squirt water on royals. Medieval paintings in Ahmednagar, Mewar painting (circa 1755), and Bundi miniature too depict Holi celebrations in one way or the other.
So how did the Holi celebrations start? One of the famous legends states:
Once upon a time, there was a wicked demon king – Hiranyakashipu. His son Prahalad was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. The son never obeyed his father and always worshipped Lord Vishnu.
Watch the story of Holika and Prahlad here.
Extremely annoyed at his Prahalad’s actions and unwavering devotion towards Lord Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu decided to kill his son.
He asked his sister Holika, who was given a boon that she would remain immune to fire, to sit on a pyre of fire with Prahalad on her lap.
They wanted to burn Prahalad alive. But their plan failed as Prahalad kept chanting Lord Vishnu’s name which kept him safe, but Holika was burnt to ashes. Holika’s death shows the victory of good over evil, and hence it is associated with Holi. In line with this legend, in some states of India, a bonfire is lit a night before Holi and people celebrate Holika Dahan.
You might be wondering that why do we apply colors on Holi?
Well, there is another story that dates back to Lord Krishna’s period. It is said that Lord Krishna celebrated Holi with colors and hence the same trend is followed till date. He used to play Holi at Vrindavan and Gokul. Their pranks and mischiefs during the celebration made it a community event. Hence even today the Holi carousel at Vrindavan is unmatched.
Another famous story portrays affection between Lord Krishna and Radha. According to the legend, when Krishna was a kid, a demoness named Putna breastfed him poisoned milk. This turned his skin dark blue. As he grew up, he became aware of his dark skin and felt that fair-skinned girls would not like him, specially Radha. Thus he mischievously colored her face to make her like him. And ever since then, Holi is celebrated as the festival of colors and couples color each other with their favorite colors.
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To watch Significance of Holi (Festival of colors) by Swami Shraddhananda click here.