HOLI FESTIVAL

Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India. It is a festival of a time of gaiety, chaos, and saturnalia. On the eve of Holi, large bonfires are lit which is also known as Holik Dahan (burning of Holik) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna ( ebruary!"arch), (Phalgun Poornima), which usually falls in the later part of ebruary or "arch. #his year, the Holik $ahana occured on %&th ebruary and the Holi festival on 'st "arch. (efore Holi, on the Phalgun Shukla Ekdashi (''th of wa)ing fortnight in *halguna ( eb+"ar), occurs the yearly decoration day (shringr) of Vishwanth, which is known as the Rangbhari Ekdashi (colorful eleventh) (refer to Shaiva estivals of ,aranasi), and it anticipates the riot of color throwing which will break out four days later on Holi and is of coarse the official beginning of the five day Holi festival. Holik Dahan: The Holi bonfire: #he main emphasis of this part of the festival is on the burning of the holy fire or Holik. #he origin of the traditional lighting of Holi is attributed by the burning of demonesses like Holik, who represents evil, or to the burning of Madan (-upid). #raditionally a bonfire on the day of Holi, marks the symbolic annihilation of the demoness Holik the sister of demon Hiranyakashyapa in Hindu mythology, while trying to kill her nephew, a devotee of Vishnu, Bhakta Prahlda. .ith the Holik fire begins the revelry, the license, and the wildness which the boys, young and old, have anticipated since they began scavenging wood and rubbish for the fire on Vasanta Pan hami (/pring0s fifth), forty days before. In ,aishnava theology, Hiranyakashyapa is the king of demons, and he had been granted a boon by 1ord Brahma, which made it almost impossible for him to be killed. #he boon was due to his long penance, after which he had demanded that he not be killed 2during day or night3 inside the home or outside, not on earth or on sky3 neither by a man nor an animal3

neither by !stra (hand held weapon) nor by Shastra (pro4ectile weapon). -onse5uently, he grew arrogant, and attacked the Heavens and the 6arth. He demanded that people stop worshipping gods and start praying to him. $espite this, Hiranyakashyap7s own son, Prahlada, was a devotee of 1ord Vishnu. In spite of several threats from Hiranyakashyap, Prahlada continued offering prayers to 1ord Vishnu. He was poisoned but the poison turned to nectar in his mouth. He was ordered to be trampled by elephants yet remained unharmed. He was put in a room with hungry, poisonous snakes and survived. 8ll of Hiranyakashyap0s attempts to kill his son failed. inally, he ordered young Prahlada to sit on a pyre on the lap of his sister, Holik, who could not die by fire by virtue of a shawl which would prevent fire affecting the person wearing it. Prahlada readily accepted his father7s orders, and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. .hen the fire started, everyone watched in ama9ement as the shawl flew from Holik, who then was burnt to death, while Prahlada survived unharmed, after the shawl moved to cover him. #he burning of Holik is celebrated as Holi. 1ater 1ord ,ishnu came in the form of a "arsimha (who is half+man and half+lion) and killed Hiranyakashyap at dusk (which was neither day nor night), on the steps of the porch of his house (which was neither inside the house nor outside) by restraining him on his lap (which is neither in the sky nor on the earth) and mauling him with his claws (which are neither astra nor shastra). #here is an alternate story detailing the origin of Holi. #his story is about #mad$va (cupid), a god of love. #ma7s body was destroyed when he shot his weapon at Shiva in order to disrupt his penance and help Parvati to marry Shiva. Shiva then opened his third eye, the ga9e of which was so powerful that :ama7s body was reduced to ashes. or the sake of #ama7s wife Rati (passion), Shiva restored him, but only as a mental image, representing the true emotional and spiritual state of love rather than physical lust. #he Holi bonfire is believed to be celebrated in commemoration of this event. Holi: #he dawn of the day of Holi brings the saturnalia, the ritual reversals, and the social leveling, which are elements of springtime and ;ew <ear0s festivals. #he usual order of this hierarchical society almost disappears. In the streets and in the courtyards of

homes, revelers drench one another with buckets of colored water and smear one another0s faces with wet streaks of vivid colors. In the dense lanes of downtown (anaras, the women, for the most part, play Holi in their own households and immediate neighborhoods, while the men, most of whom have begun the day with a taste of into)icating Bhang (-annabis Indica), careen through the streets, singing, throwing colors, and shouting obscenities like = Srrara sararara #abira sararara% Holi is a festival of radiance in the universe. $uring this festival, different waves of radiance traverse the universe, thereby creating various colors that nourish and complement the function of respective elements in the atmosphere. 6arliest te)tual references regarding celebration of Holi, have been found the >th century /anskrit drama, Ratnavali.? Holi has certainly perennial rituals attached to it, the first is smearing of colored powder on each other, and throwing water, colored and scented using Pi hkaris (color sprinkler), shaped like giant syringes or s5uirt guns. #hough the festival really begins many days in advance, with 7Holi "ilan7 (congregation of Holi), musical soirees, where song related to the festival, and the epic love story of Radha #rishna are sung3 specially type of folk songs, known as @HoriA are sung as well. /ome classical ones like &' bira' m$in Holi r$ rasiy, have been present in the folklore for many generations. ood preparations also begin many days in advance, with assemblage of (u'i) Ppad and various kinds of snack items including Mlpus, Mathri, Dahibads, which are served to Holi guests. #he night of Holi, the Baithak (drawing room) turns into event of churning bhng (cannabis) to make into)icating milk shakes. #he wet colors are over at noontime, and the ethos of the after noon changes from raucous frivolity to familial amiability. 8fter a shower or a bath in the Banges, people put on a fresh change of clothing, preferably immaculate white, and begin another round of visiting in one another0s homes, bringing sweets, singing, and making amends for any misunderstandings of the past year. ;ow they greet one another with dry colored powder, rubbing a bit on the foreheads and faces of those who meet and embraced with a warm

@Happy HoliCA 8gain, groups of young men, still warm with the blur of Bhang, swagger through the streets singing to the accompaniment of drums and musical instruments. "any of these groups will eventually make their way to Chausatti (hat, where on the evening of Holi and throughout the ne)t day there is a fair in honor of the si)ty+four *oginis (discussed in Shakti $eities of ,aranasi). Here groups of respectable merchants from the city and rustic rickshaw pullers from the outlying villages, as color+faced as clowns, en4oy their madness and their song. Dust after fifteen lunar days, the Hindu ;ew <ear arrives but after every three year it takes a little bit time more as an e)tra month of Purushottama is added to the year.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Reference: Eck Diana L.; Banaras: City of Light, London, 198 , !""#"8. $edhasananda %&a'i; (aranasi: )t Crossroads, 1998, 1*#11. Hind+ ,olklores + Ratnvali is a Sanskrit drama about a b$auti,ul prin $ss nam$d Ratnvali) and a gr$at king nam$d -dayana% .t is attribut$d to th$ .ndian $mp$ror Harsha /010 2 034 !%D%5% .t is a drama o, ,our a ts% 6n$ o, th$ ,irst t$7tual r$,$r$n $s to th$ $l$bration o, Holi) th$ ,$stival o, olors hav$ b$$n ,ound in this t$7t%