Holi Holi Docs 8th March 2023

Happy Holi

 8th March 2023

Life is Full of Colors,
May be this HOLI festival,
Add more colors in your life,
And may you enjoyed them at their brightest shade.
I wish you that even after the HOLI, Those colors be there in your life .. Meaning of Colors

Blue  Symbolizes: Youth, Spirituality, Truth, Peace
Brown Symbolizes: Earth, Order, Convention
Black  Symbolizes: Death, Earth, Stability
Gold Symbolizes: Wealth, Prosperity, Wisdom
Gray  Symbolizes: Sorrow, Security, Maturity
Green  Symbolizes: Life, Nature, Fertility, Well Being
Orange Symbolizes: Vitality With Endurance
Pink  Symbolizes: Love, Beauty
Purple  Symbolizes: Royalty, Magic, Mystery
Red  Symbolizes:  Action, Confidence, Courage, Vitality
White  Symbolizes: Purity, Cleanliness
Yellow  Symbolizes: Wisdom, Joy, Happiness, Intellectual Energy

 

Holi , is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours. Holi is a festival of radiance (Teja) in the universe. During this festival, different waves of radiance traverse the universe, thereby creating various colors that nourish and complement the function of respective elements in the atmosphere. Originally, Holi was afertility festival.

History of Holi

Holi is an ancient festival of India and was originally known as 'Holika'. There are various legends to explain the meaning of this word, most prominent of all is the legend associated with demon king Hiranyakashyap. 

Hiranyakashyap wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship only him but to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. Hiaranyakashyap commanded his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a boon whereby she could enter fire without any damage on herself. However, she was not aware that the boon worked only when she enters the fire alone. As a result she paid a price for her sinister desires, while Prahlad was saved by the grace of the god for his extreme devotion. The festival, therefore, celebrates the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion. 

Legend of Lord Krishna is also associated with play with colors as the Lord started the tradition of play with colours by applying color on his beloved Radha and other gopis. Gradually, the play gained popularity with the people and became a tradition.

There is alternate story detailing the origin of Holi. This story is about KamaDeva a god of love. Kama's body was destroyed when he shot his weapon at Shiva in order to disrupt his meditation 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 spiritual state of love rather than physical lust. The Holi bonfire is believed to be celebrated in commemoration of this event.

There are also a few other legends associated with the festival - like the legend of Shiva and Kaamadeva and those of Ogress Dhundhi and Pootana. All depict triumph of good over evil - lending a philosophy to the festival.

 

 

Holi Celebrations

The celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love. Holi has certainly perennial rituals attached to it, the first is smearing of colored powder on each other, and throwing water, colored and scented using pichkaris, shaped like giant syringes or squirt guns. Though the festival really begins many days in advance, with 'Holi Milan' or Baithaks, musical soirees, where song related to the festival, and the epic love story of Radha Krishna are sung; specially type of folk songs, known as "Hori" are sung as well.

First comes Choti Holi or 'Little Holi'. This is the night of the big bonfire, so everyone gets busy collecting firewood. Families and friends get together around the bonfire, put together mostly by the men and children. The women busy themselves as well. As every festival has its own ritualistic cuisine, so does Holi (see Cuisine). 

Holika Dahan: The Holi bonfire

Holi Pooja takes place a day before the Holi Festival. This day is called as 'Holika Dahan'. There is no special pooja performed on the Holi day. This day is only meant for celebrations and play of colors. Holika Dahan is the major ritual performed at the time of Holi which is also considered an important Holi Puja. People light bonfires on the eve of Holi festival to celebrate the victory of 'good' over 'bad' which is called Holika Dahan. 

Holi Pooja Process or Holika Dahan Process

Holika Dahan preparations begin almost 40 days before the festival. People start gathering woods on the important crossroads of the city. Holi Pooja or Holika takes place on an auspicious time in the evening a day before the Holi festival. Given below are the steps and rituals for the Holi Pooja: 

1. Holi Pooja can be performed at any place.
2. A log of wood is kept at a prominent public place on the Vasant Panchami day.
3. People extend the log centre with twigs, dried leaves, branches of trees and other combustible material.
4. On the day of Holika Dahan, an effigy of Holika and Prahlad is placed on the huge heap of woods.
5. Effigy of Holika is made of combustible material while Prahlad's effigy is made of non-combustible material.
6. On the eve of Holi, the heap is set alight and the people chant Rakshoghna Mantras of the Rig Veda to cast away the evil spirits.
7. Left over ashes are collected by people next morning. These ashes are considered holy and are smeared on the limbs of the body as Holi Prasad.
8. Smearing of body limbs is an act of purification.

Holi Pooja is performed in a different manner in some communities. Marwari women offer Holi puja in the afternoon and evening i.e. before setting fire to 'Holika'. It is called 'Thandi Holi'. The whole puja process is considered very auspicious for the married women. It ensures well-being and healthy life of their husband.

Happy Holi

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