Holi or Phagwah (Bhojpuri) is
an annual Hindu spring festival. It is also called the festival of color. It
takes place on a Purnima Full Moon as per the Hindu calendar. On the first day,
a bonfire is lit at night to signify the burning of Holika.
In Hindu mythology,
Hiranyakashipu was the king of demons, and he had been granted a boon by
Brahma, which made it almost impossible for him to be killed. The boon was due
to his long penance, after which he had demanded that he not be killed 'during
day or night; inside the home or outside; not on earth or on sky, neither by a
man nor an animal'. Consequently, he grew arrogant, and attacked the Heavens
and Earth. He demanded that people stop worshipping gods and start praying to
him. But his own son, Prahlad, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. In spite of
several threats from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlad continued offering prayers to Lord
Vishnu. He was poisoned but poison turned to nectar in his mouth. He was
trampled by elephants and was unharmed. He was in a room with hungry, poisonous
snake and still survived. Getting angry with his son, Hiranyakashipu tried
various ways of killing him, but failed. Ultimately he ordered young Prahlad to
sit on a pyre on the lap of his sister Holika, who could not die by fire by
virtue of a shawl which if worn would not let the person wearing be affected by
fire. Prahlad readily accepted the challenge, and prayed to Vishnu to keep him
safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in amazement as the shawl flew
from Holika, who, then was burnt to death, while Prahlad survived without a
scar to show for it, after the shawl moved on to cover him. The burning of
Holika is celebrated as Holi.
In Vrindavan and Mathura Krishna ). Lord Krishna is
believed to have popularized the festival by playing pranks on the gopis here. Krishna is believed to be complained about his dark color
and Radha's fair color to his mother and so decided to apply color to her face.
The celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love.
There is another story about
the origin of holi. The Kamadeva is God of love. Kama 's
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
gaze of which was so powerful that Kama 's body
was reduced to ashes. For the sake of Kama 's
wife Rati (passion), Shiva restored him, but only as a mental image,
representing the true emotional and mental state of love rather than physical
lust. The Holi bonfire is believed to be celebrated in commeration of this
event.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
