Holly, widely known as Hindu festival of coloursIt is a joyful annual celebration of the arrival of spring and has cultural and religious importance.
This festival, traditionally celebrated in March in India, Nepal, other South Asian countries and throughout the diaspora, celebrates love and signifies a time of rebirth and renewal – a time to embrace positive energy and shed negative energy.
In one of Holi’s most famous traditions, revelers take to the street dressed all in white. Throwing colored powders each other, leaving behind a scene of color and joy. The celebrations begin with music, dancing and food.
Holi is celebrated at the end of winter and beginning of spring, on the last full moon day of the Hindu lunisolar month of Phalgun. The date of the festival varies according to the lunar cycle. Usually, it falls in the month of March, and this year it will be celebrated on March 4.
In many parts of India, people light large bonfires the night before the festival to signify the destruction of evil and the triumph of good. Various mythological tales indicate the reason behind this celebration.
In one story, King Hiranyakashipu ordered everyone in his kingdom to worship him and became angry when his son Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, disobeyed his order. He ordered his sister Holika, who was immune to fire, to take the child Prahlad to the fire while carrying him on her lap. However, when the pyre was lit, the boy’s devotion to Lord Vishnu protected him and left him unharmed while Holika, despite her invulnerability, burned to death.
In another South Indian tradition, this event is known as Kama Dahanam to commemorate Lord Shiva burning Kamadeva, the god of love, with his third eye. It symbolizes the destruction of lust and other earthly attachments to a higher spiritual purpose that precedes the joy of colors.
Some also consider Holi to be a reference to Lord Krishna and his love for his beloved Radha and his cosmic play with his companions and devotees called ‘gopikas’, who are also revered for their unconditional love and devotion to Krishna.
On the day of Holi, streets and entire towns are filled with people throwing colored powder into the air. Some throw balloons filled with colored water from rooftops, while others use spray guns. For one day, everything is fair game. Shouts of “Holly hai!” Which means “It’s Holly!” It can be heard in the streets. Holi has also been romanticized and popularized for decades in Bollywood films.
The colors that appear during Holi symbolize different things. The blue color represents Lord Krishna’s skin color while the green color symbolizes spring and rebirth. Red symbolizes marriage or fertility while red and yellow – commonly used in rituals and ceremonies – symbolize happiness.
A range of special foods form part of the celebration, and the most popular food during Holi is ‘gujiya’, a sweet, flaky pastry that is deep-fried and filled with curd, nuts and dried fruits. Holi parties also feature thandai, a cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, rose petals, poppy seeds, saffron, milk and sugar.
In North America and in any country with a Hindu population, people of Indian descent celebrate Holi with Bollywood parties and parades, as well as a range of public and private gatherings. Many American temples will celebrate Holika Dahan this year on February 2 or 3 to coincide with the full moon day and Total lunar eclipsewhich is rare.
It is also common for Hindu temples and community centers in the United States to organize cultural programs, friendly cricket matches, and other celebrations during the holiday.
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