Children remain excited about spraying colours on each other, filling balloons with colourful water, etc. Friends and family come together on this day, indulge in the playful spirit of the festival, and celebrate the day over colours, sweets, and a variety of foods.
As per the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna, celebrations for Holi begin in the evening of Purnima, or full moon day. This year, Holi will be observed on March 18, 2022 (Friday). On March 17, 2022, Holika Dahan will take place.
" Holi is a time to reach out with the colors of joy. It is the time to love and forgive. It is the time expresses the happiness of being loved and to be loved through colors". - Anonymous
Holi is the colourful festival that brings feeling of love and closeness among people. It marks the commencement of the spring season in India after the winter season. It is also known as Rang Panchami. It is celebrated with keenness and cheerfulness on the full moon day in the Phalgun month which is the month of March as per the Gregorian calendar. Holi festival may be distinguished with an assortment of names & people of diverse states might be following dissimilar ethnicity. People spread colourful colours over each other. But, what makes Holi so exclusive and extraordinary is its spirit which remains the same all through the country & even across the globe, wherever it is celebrated. This article deals with the festival of Holi, how is it celebrated, its importance, history, etc.
Holi Preparations
The entire country wears a cheerful look when it is time for Holi festivity. Market places get abuzz with bustles as frenzied shoppers start making provisions for the festival. Loads of diverse hues of abeer and gulal can be seen on the pavement days before the festival. Pichkaris in inventive and contemporary design too come up every year to entice the children who desire to collect them as Holi memorabilia and evidently, to wet everybody in the town. Womenfolk too start making early plannings for the Holi festival as they cook loads of mathri, papri and gujiya for the family & also for the relatives. At some places, particularly in the North women also make papads & potato chips at this time.
On the day of Holi, entire streets and towns turn red, green and yellow as people throw colored powder into the air and splash them on others. Each color carries a meaning. Red, for example, symbolizes love and fertility while green stands for new beginnings. People also splash water on each other in celebration.
Season of Bloom
Everybody gets enchanted at the onset of Holi as the season itself is so joyous. Holi is also called the Spring Festival - as it marks the influx of spring the season of hope & joy. The gloom of the winter goes as Holi assures of vivid summer days. Nature too seems to exult at the arrival of Holi and wears its finest clothes. Fields get filled with crops gifting a good harvest to the farmers and flowers bloom colouring the surroundings and filling fragrance in the air.
Holy Festival: History
A Hindu festival, Holi has various legends associated with it. The foremost is the legend of demon King Hiranyakashyap who demanded everybody in his kingdom to worship him but his devout son, Prahlad became a follower of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap wanted his son to be slayed. He asked his sister Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap as Holika had a boon that made him resistant to fire. The story goes that Prahlad was saved by the lord himself for his extreme devotion and evil-minded Holika was scorched to ashes, for her boon worked only when she penetrated the fire alone. Since that time, people light a flare, called Holika on Holi festival and rejoice the conquest of good over evil & also the conquest of fidelity to god. Children take extraordinary glee in the custom and this has another fable attached to it.
Some also commemorate the death of evil-minded Pootana. The ogress tried to Lord Krishna as a toddler by feeding it poisonous milk while accomplishing the plan of Kansa, Krishna's devil uncle. On the other hand, Krishna sucked her blood & brought her end. Some who view the source of festivals from seasonal cycles consider that Pootana symbolizes winter & her death the termination & end of winter.
Holika Dahan
On Holi eve, called Choti Holi, people congregate at significant crossroads and light massive bonfires; the ritual is called Holika Dahan. To deliver gratefulness to Agni, gram & stalks from the yield are also proffered to Agni with all modesty. Ash left from this bonfire is also regarded as sacred & people apply it on their foreheads. People consider that the ash protects them from iniquity forces.
Play of Colours
Great exhilaration can be seen in people on the next day when it is essentially the time for the play of colors. Shops & offices stay closed for the day & people get all the time to get wild & whacky. Vivid colours of gulal & abeer fill the air & people take turns in bucketing colour water over each other.
Therefore, we can say that Holi is a colourful festival celebrated across the country with joyous. It is the arrival of the spring season and to signify the victory of good over evil. It also brings everyone together as one. So, let's celebrate together Holi!
