Holi is an ancient festival of India and
was originally known as 'Holika'.
The festivals finds a detailed
description in early religious works
such as Jaimini's Purvamimamsa-Sutras
and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras. Historians
also believe that Holi was celebrated by
all Aryans but more so in the Eastern
part of India.
It is said that Holi existed several
centuries before Christ. However, the
meaning of the festival is believed to
have changed over the years. Earlier it
was a special rite performed by married
women for the happiness and well-being
of their families and the full moon (Raka)
was worshiped.
Rituals of Holi
Rituals of the ancient festival of Holi
are religiously followed every year with
care and enthusiasm.
Preparations Days before the festival people start
gathering wood for the lighting of the
bonfire called Holika at the major
crossroads of the city. This ensures
that at the time of the actual
celebration a huge pile of wood is
collected.
Holika Dahan
Celebrations Then on the eve of Holi, Holika Dahan
takes place. Effigy of Holika, the devil
minded sister of demon King
Hiranyakashyap is placed in the wood and
burnt. For, Holika tried to kill
Hiranyakashyap's son Prahlad, an
ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. The
ritual symbolises the victory of good
over evil and also the triumph of a true
devotee.
Children also hurl abuses at Holika and
pray pranks, as if they still try to
chase away Dhundhi who once
troubled little ones in the Kingdom of
Prithu. Some people also take
embers from the fire to their homes to
rekindle their own domestic fires.
Play of Colors Next day, is of course the main day of
Holi celebrations. The day is called
Dhuleti and it is on this day that the actual
play of colours take place. There is no
tradition of holding puja and is meant
for pure enjoyment. The tradition of playing colours is
particularly rampant in north India and
even in that region, there can be no
comparison to the Holi of Mathura
and Vrindavan. In Maharashtra and
Gujarat too Holi is celebrated with lot
of enthusiasm and fun.
People take extreme delight in spraying
colour water on each other with
pichkaris or pouring buckets and buckets
of it. Singing Bollywood Holi numbers
and dancing on the beat of dholak is
also a part of the tradition. Amidst all
this activity people relish gujiya,
mathri, malpuas and other
traditional Holi delicacies with great
joy.
Drinks, specially thandai laced with
bhang is also an intrinsic part of
the Holi festivity. Bhang helps to
further enhance the spirit of the
occasion but if taken in excess it might
dampen it also. So caution should be
taken while consuming it.
Holi
Celebrations in South India In south India, however, people follow
the tradition of worshiping Kaamadeva,
the love god of Indian mythology. People
have faith in the legend which speak
about the great sacrifice of Kaamadeva
when he shot his love arrow on Lord
Shiva to break his meditation and evoke
his interest in worldly affairs.
After, an eventful and funfilled day
people become a little sober in the
evening and greet friends and relatives
by visiting them and exchange sweets.
Holi special get togethers are also
organised by various cultural
organizations to generate harmony and
brotherhood in the society.
Significance of Holi
In spite of being such a colourful and
gay festival, there are various aspects
of Holi which makes it so significant
for our lives. Though they might not be
so apparent but a closer look and a
little thought will reveal the
significance of Holi in more ways than
meets the eyes. Ranging from
socio-cultural, religious to biological
there is every reason why we must
heartily enjoy the festival and cherish
the reasons for its celebrations. So when, its time for Holi, please don't
hold yourself back and enjoy the
festival to the hilt by participating
with full enthusiasm in every small
tradition related to the festival.
Watch Holi Songs: Rang Barase
& Aaj Na Chodenge, Kati Patang
