Holi – festival of colors

Holi – festival of colors

Holi is such a festival, which is now celebrated with great enthusiasm all over the world and it is a very popular and famous festival of India. This festival is also called the festival of colors and traditionally it is a two-day festival. This holy festival of Holi is mainly celebrated in India and Nepal. In many other countries where Indian people are in large quantity, even there this festival is celebrated with great pomp and togetherness.

On this festival, people go from house to house and congratulate each other and celebrate this festival with joy by applying colors to each other. On this festival, forgetting their wet and grieving, people come together in the colors of Holi and sing and play, that is, dance and sing.

History

Holi is a very ancient festival of India and this festival of Holi is called by many names such as Holi, Holika or Holika, Fagua, Phag. In South India Holika Dahan is called or celebrated as Kama Dahan.

This festival has been mentioned in many types of texts, stories and ancient religious books of history. The famous Muslim tourist Alberuni has also told about the festival of Holi in his historical travel research paper. In the earlier times, the festivals celebrated in the spring season were called Kama-Mahotsava and Vasantotsava because of the celebration of the festival with enthusiasm. The details of this ceremony or festival have also been given in the ancient scriptures and manuscripts of Puranas like Bhavishya Purana and Narada Purana. This festival has also been mentioned in a record or article dating back 300 years to the Ramgarh place of Vindhya influence areas.

Many Muslim poets of India have mentioned this festival in their writings and writings, in some books there is a description of playing Holi with Jahangir Nur Jahan and Jodha Akbar. It is said that the picture of Jahangir playing Holi is still available in the Alwar Museum. And since then the Mughal style of playing Holi changed.

Most of the praise or history of the festival of Holi is seen and heard in the stories of Lord Shri Krishna and Lord Shri Krishna is worshiped a lot in India and people love him a lot. Another form of Holi from time immemorial is the Holi played in Barsane (Mathura), the birth place of Lord Krishna’s friend Radha, known as “Lathmar Holi”, it is celebrated in the whole world in its unique way. The reason is famous i.e. well-known.Here people from far and wide come to enjoy Lathmar Holi on the Navami of Shukla Paksha of Falgun month, not only this people from other countries also come here on this day and celebrate this festival. Celebrate with different colors.

Significance or Mythology of Holi

By the way, there are many beliefs about the festival of Holi such as the story of Mahadev, Parvati and Kamadeva, the death of a demon named Dhunda in the kingdom of King Raghu by Mahadev, the story of Kansa and Putana, the story of Radha and Krishna.

The most important and popular belief or story in these beliefs is the story of Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu.

This holy festival of Holi began with the end of Holika, the sister of the demon king Hiranyakashipu, the father of Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu. It is said in Vishnu Purana that the demon King Hiranyakashipu did penance to Lord Brahma and got a boon. After getting the boon, he became arrogant and started thinking of himself as immortal and God and became devout and self-centered.

Hiranyakashipu’s son Prahlad used to be devoted to Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu wanted his son to leave the devotion of Lord Vishnu and worship him, but Prahlad refused to give up the devotion of Lord Narayana.

Hiranyakashipu inflicted many kinds of torture on Prahlad, but Prahlad remained subdued in the devotion of Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu would protect him in every calamity. Prahlad was not ready to give up his devotion to Lord Vishnu, even after many life-threatening tortures by King Hiranyakashipu. Then Harinyakashipu decided to kill Prahlad. Then he tried to kill Prahlad in various ways but he failed.

Hiranyakashipu’s sister “Holika” who had a boon that she could not burn in the fire. King Hiranyakashipu ordered his sister to take her son Prahlad with him and sit in the fire so that Prahlad would die in the fire. But when Holika went to the fire with Prahlad, her boon ended at the same time. Since that time this Holi festival is celebrated every year on the full moon coming in Phalgun on the victory of good over evil.

Therefore, the festival of Holi is celebrated for two days, on the first day Holika is lit, “Holika Dahan” is lit and on the next day Holi is played with colors.

Specialty

The biggest feature of the festival of Holi is that it is a festival of fun and laughter. Holi is a festival that promotes unity and friendship and brotherhood, forgetting enmity and envy from the society.

People celebrate this festival of Holi by getting together, hugging and applying colors to each other. Along with this, phagun and religious songs are also sung. On this day people also prepare special types of dishes and sweets.

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