On Holi...

Back in February I visited the Hindu Temple in Morrisville to learn about the founding of the Temple as well as the history of the physical temple structure and observe a service. The weekend on which I made this trip also happened to be the Temple’s annual celebration of the spring-time festival “Holi”. It proved to be a very new and interesting experience for me and as such I decided that I would learn more about the holiday.


Holi is an ancient festival celebrated in India with its roots deeply embedded in Hindu culture. The holiday was originally called “Holika”. Historians believe that the holiday was originally celebrated by all Aryans, but more so by those 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. Previously, it had been a special rite performed by married women for the happiness and well-being of their families and the full moon was worshipped (Holi, 1). Interestingly enough, many important dates in Hindu culture are determined by the lunar calendar unlike in Western tradition where holidays fall on a specific date (regardless of lunar positioning) or in the case of Thanksgiving where it is celebrated on the third Thursday of November. Holi is no exception to this. There are two days of reckoning a lunar month – “Purnimanta” and “Amanta”. In the former, the first day starts after the full moon; and in the latter, after the new moon. Amanta reckoning is much more common now, though in the earlier days Purimanta was quite popular (Holi, 3). The full moon festival of Holi gradually became a festival of merrymaking, announcing the commencement of the spring season (Holi, 4).


The literal meaning of the word “Holi” is “burning”. There are numerous legends of varying detail as to why this is. The most prominent of these legends involves the 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” (Holi, 11). There is also the legend of Krishna which accounts for the play with colors that takes place during the celebration of Holi. Krishna is said to have started this by applying colors to his beloved Radha and other gopis. This practice (application of liquid/powdered colors to friends and family in celebration of Holi) gradually grew in popularity and is now commonplace (Holi, 12).






Why Holika alone is burned in effigy as opposed to Holika and Hiaranyakashyap is very confusing as it was by Hiaranyakashyap’s (Holika’s brother) request that Holika coax Prahlad into the fire with her. Reasonably, one would put both Hiaranyakashyap and Holika at fault. However, this is not the obvious case. Both are noted for being “evil”, but only Holika is burned. Given the context, the scales of morality seem to be a bit off kilter. It seems as though Holika is made out to be the scapegoat for the evils and iniquities of men so that the males might ignore their own faults while purging the guilt from their minds symbolically through the burning of Holika’s effigy.





Rituals associated with the celebration of Holi include the Holi Dahan and the aforementioned play with colors. The Holi Dahan is a bonfire that takes place on the eve of Holi. The bonfire is supposed to represent the effigy of Holika, the devil minded sister of the demon King Hiranyakashyap is placed in the wood and burnt. During this time children often hurl abuses at Holika and play pranks. Another practice associated with the Holi Dahan is the taking home of embers from the fire so that the fire might be rekindled in one’s own home (Holi, 2). The play with colors is especially rampant in Northern India and people take delight in spraying others with buckets of colored water. The singing of Bollywood Holi numbers and dancing to the beat of dholak are also part of the tradition. Furthermore, on the day of Holi drinks laced with bhang (a mixture made from the culled leaves and buds of the cannabis plant) are consumed as it is said to enhance the spirit of the occasion (Holi, 2).


















Works Cited


Holi. Society for the Confluence of Festivals in India, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. .