Shruthivijay

Holi Re Holi…

Holi Re Holi…

-ShruthiV

Holi (Holaka or Phagwa) - the festival of colors is undoubtedly the most fun-filled and boisterous of Hindu festival. It's an occasion that brings in unadulterated joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colors! •Every year it is celebrated on the day after the full moon in early March and glorifies good harvest and fertility of the land. •It is also time for spring harvest. The new crop refills the stores in every household and perhaps such abundance accounts for the riotous merriment during Holi. This also explains the other names of this celebration - 'Vasant Mahotsava' and 'Kama Mahotsava'.

The Festive License! Women, especially, enjoy the freedom of relaxed rules and sometimes join in the merriment rather aggressively.

There are at least three legends that are directly associated with the festival of colors:

The Holika-Prahlad Episode  Legend has it that it derives its name from Holika, the sister of the mythical megalomaniac king Hiranyakashipu who commanded everyone to worship him. But his little son Prahlad refused to do so. Instead he became a devotee of Vishnu, the Hindu God. Hiranyakashipu ordered his sister Holika to kill Prahlad and she, possessing the power to walk through fire unharmed, picked up the child and walked into a fire with him. Prahlad, however, chanted the names of God and was saved from the fire. Holika perished because she did not know that her powers were only effective if she entered the fire alone. This myth has a strong association with the festival of Holi .

Fig: Holika and Prahalad

The Story of Dhundhi  It was also on this day that an ogress called Dhundhi, who was troubling the children in the kingdom of Prthu was chased away by the shouts and pranks of village youngsters. Although this female monster had secured several boons that made her almost invincible, shouts, abuses and pranks of boys was a chink in the armor for Dhundi, owing to a curse from Lord Shiva.

The Kamadeva Myth  It is often believed that it was on this day that Lord Shiva opened his third eye and incinerated Kamadeva, the god of love, to death.

Fig: Lord Shiva incinerated Kamadeva

Radha-Krishna Legend  Holi is also celebrated in memory of the immortal love of Lord 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 colour on Radha's face and see how her complexion would change.

Fig: Radha Krishna with holi colors.

if you wanna know how to celebrate the festival of colors to the fullest through the whole length of three days, here's a primer.

Holi – Day1 The day of the full moon (Holi Purnima) is the first day of Holi. A platter ('thali') is arranged with colored powders, and colored water is placed in a small brass pot ('lota'). The eldest male member of the family begins the festivities by sprinkling colors on each member of the family, and the youngsters follow.

Holi – Day2 On the second day of the festival called 'Puno', images of Holika are burnt in keeping with the legend of Prahlad and his devotion to lord Vishnu. In rural India, the evening is celebrated by lighting huge bonfires as part of the community celebration when people gather near the fire to fill the air with folk songs and dances.

Holi – Day3 The most boisterous and the final day of the festival is called 'Parva', when children, youth, men and women visit each other's homes and colored powders called 'aabir' and 'gulal' are thrown into the air and smeared on each other's faces and bodies. 'Pichkaris' and water balloons are filled with colors and spurted onto people.

This is how I celebrated…., rang barse chun e g e e h b e s r Rang ba

Are kaine ma ar

ar w ali

i pichkaari to

ri bheegi ang

iya O

sia, ho a r g n a r ia Rangras

Rang bars barse bh e ... eege chun ar w ali, r ang

Can anyone of you recognize me???

Thank You