 |
|
|
HINDU FESTIVAL HOLI
FESTIVAL OF COLOR - EARLY MARCH
It is spring time in India, flowers
and fields are in bloom and the country
goes wild with people running on the
streets and smearing each other with
brightly hued powders and colored water.
This is the festival of Holi,
celebrated on the day after the full
moon in early March every year.
Originally Holi is a festival to
celebrate good harvests and fertility of
the land. There are many legends
concerning the origin of this spring
festival. The most popular among these
concerns Prince Prahlad, the god-fearing
son of the evil King Hiranyakasipu.
Prahlad did not give up worshipping the
god Vishnu in spite of fearful
persecution by his father and his demon
aunt Holika, who was deputed by her
brother to kill young Prahlad.
Ultimately, when Holika, who was immune
to death by fire, took Prahlad and
entered a blazing furnace built for his
destruction, it was the wicked Holika
who was burnt to ashes by divine
intervention, while Prahlad came out
unscathed. Before she died, she realized
her follies and begged the boy's
forgiveness. As his gesture of
forgiveness, Prahlad deemed that her
name would be remembered at least one
day in the year.
Holi commemorates this event from
mythology, and huge bonfires are burnt
on the eve of Holi as its symbolic
representation.
|
WORLD RELIGIONS
COMPARED
WORLD
RELIGIONS CLIPART
WORLD
RELIGIONS HOME
HINDUISM HOME
HINDU FESTIVALS |
This exuberant festival is also associated with the
immortal love of Krishna and Radha. The young Krishna would complain
to his mother Yashoda about why Radha was so fair and he so dark.
Yashoda advised him to apply color on Radha's face and see how her
complexion would change. Holi is celebrated with particular joy in
the villages around Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna.
Down the ages, civilization has advanced leaps and bounds, but the
spirit of Holi remains the same. Each year, without fail, the old
and the young alike gather into groups and indulge in a riot of
colors.
Holi is also synonymous with bhang, which is consumed by many in the
form of laddoos and ghols. One could get away with almost anything
on this day; squirting colored water on passers-by and dunking
friends in the mud pool saying "bura na mano, Holi hai" (don't feel
offended, it's Holi). Apart from this usual fun with colored powder
and water, Holi is marked by vibrant processions, which are
accompanied by folk songs and dances.
Variants: Holika Dahana.
don't feel offended, it's
Holi.
Hindu Proverb Y
| |
 |
 |