V.K.Beeharry
Member Arya Veer
India is a country of multitude of festivals. ‘Holi’ is the most popular festival celebrated by Hindus across the world. Holi is celebrated on the full moon day in the Hindu month of Phalgun (March).
There are many legends associated with the Holi festival but the most popular one is the story of Prahalad and Holika. According to the Hindu mythology, there was a king named Hiranyakashipu. It is believed that he had the blessings of Brahma that no man, no animal and no weapon could kill him. He ordered his subjects to worship him and not to any other God. He had a son named Prahalad who was a true devotee of Lord Vishnu. All the people began to worship Hiranyakashipu except his son. When the king failed to deviate his son’s devotion to God, he planned to kill him. All the king’s attempts failed as Lord Vishnu saved his devotee every time. The king had a sister named Holika who was gifted with the boon that she would not be burnt by fire. The king asked his sister to sit with Prahalad in her lap in the blazing fire. Holika didn’t know that the boon only works when she is alone. Hence, she was burnt and Prahalad was saved by Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu then appeared in the form of Narasingha avtar and killed Hiranyakashipu with his claws. Narasingha was neither a man nor an animal and he did not use any weapon to kill King Hiranyakashipu.
Unlike most Hindu festivals, Holi doesn’t involve veneration of any Gods and Goddesses and is purely celebrated for fun. On the eve of the festival, people conduct the ritual called Holika dahan (lighting of a bon fire). In this ritual, people pile heaps of wood and cow dung in a public place to burn and they go round the bonfire singing bhajans related to Holi. Holika dahan symbolizes the burning of evil powers.
The next day, people regardless of class, creed, ethnicity or religion meet to celebrate the festival. On that day, people forget all their misunderstandings, differences and enmities and come together to spend some happy moments. Young and old, ladies and gents play with colours. They smear colours on each other’s face. They splash coloured water on one another. Children run around splashing water using water guns. On that day, a special drink called bhaang is served, especially to male adults. People relish ‘gujiyas’, a sweet delicacy made especially during the Holi festival.
Holi spreads love and brotherhood and brings harmony in the society. This festival unites people and removes negativity. Happy Holi to one and all.