The celebration of the Holi festival finds
mention is ancient scriptures as well as the seventh century play Ratnavali and
draws on two legends from Hindu Mythology.
The bonfire is lit during Chhota Holi to
symbolise the vanquishing of the demoness Holika by Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu
wanted to become immortal and all powerful. He performed severe penance to invoke
Lord Brahma. It is said that Lord Brahma granted him five boons in lieu of the
boon of immortality which he wanted, that he would not be killed by man or
animal, during day or night, inside the house or outside the house, on the
ground or in the air, by any weapon. These boons made him almost invincible and
he became a tyrant. His hatred for Lord Vishnu was due to Vishnu being the
cause of his brother’s death. He even went to the extent of banning the worship
of Lord Vishnu in his realm. But as fate would have it, his son Prahlad was a
sincere devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu tried to make Prahlad give up
his devotion to Vishnu. Angered by his
failure, he wanted to kill his own son and tried various means to do so, but
each time, Lord Vishnu saved his devotee. Hiranyakashipu then called on his
sister, Holika to help him. Holika had a boon in the form of a shawl that would
protect her from being burnt in a fire.
According to the plan, Holika would sit covered with her magical shawl
on a pyre of wood and the child, Prahlad, on her lap. The pyre would be lit and
Prahlad would be burnt to death while Holika would be saved because of her
divine shawl. But when the pyre was lit,
Lord Vishnu caused a sharp breeze to remove the shawl from Holika’s shoulders
and cover Prahlad instead. Prahlad was thus left untouched while the demonness,
Holika, was burnt to death.
Even today, it is a common practise in some
places to offer cereals to the bonfire and sacred hymns are chanted to destroy
the evil in our minds. The ash from the bonfire is collected and smeared on the
forehead to ward off evil forces.
The morning of the next day is celebrated as
Rangwali Holi. This celebration with smearing of colours and splashing
coloured water on each other draws its origin apparently from the tales of
Krishna and Radha. It is believed that the dark skinned Krishna was worried
that the fair Radha and other girls like her would not like him and mentioned
this to his mother Yashoda. Yashoda maiyya at once asked him to colour Radha’s
face with whatever colour he wanted to, and thus began the tradition of Holi
and the splash of colours.
Holi
celebrations in Braj, Mathura, Gokul, Nandgaon and Vrindavan, places where
Krishna spent his childhood, are wonderful to experience. They start a week
earlier itself (this year they have started on 14th itself) and last
for some more days after Holi. Another
place where Holi is played with abandon is Barsana, the birthplace of Radha.
Here, there is a difference in the way the festival is celebrated. The men of
Nandgaon drench the women of Barsana with colours and want to enter the temple
of Radhikaji, but the women resist by beating them with sticks, all played with
fun and in the right spirit. This is called Latmaar Holi. It is said that
Krishna too faced the same fate in the hands of Radha and the other Gopis.
Colours are the essence of holi
celebrations. Traditionally natural colours were sourced from plants, herbs,
leaves and flowers like yellow from turmeric, green from mehendi and other
leaves, violet and blue from indigo and berries, red from flowers like hibiscus
and flame of the forest and brown from tea leaves. But in recent times, these
have given way to chemical induced synthetic colours which sometimes harm the
skin and eyes of people. It is high time we go back to our natural colours and
play a safe and wonderful Holi.
Wishing everyone a very
happy and safe Holi
