Holi is one of the most important festivals in India. It is celebrated on full moon day, in the month of Phalgun with full of enthusiasm, which is in March. The Holi festival may be celebrated in various names and people of different states might be following different traditions but, what makes Holi so unique and special is the spirit of the festival which remains the same throughout the globe, wherever it is celebrated. Holi is one of those ancient Hindu festivals which has become popular with non-Hindus in many parts of the world.
There are multiple stories behind this festival. The first story is about Holika and Prahlad. For many traditions in Hinduism, Holi celebrates the death of Holika who died in order to save Prahlad, and we see where Holi gets its name. The night before Holi, pyres are burnt in North India in keeping with this tradition. It should also be noted that in some parts of India the day is actually called Holika. There are other activities associated with the story of Prahlad, but the burning of Holika is the one that we can most directly associate with Holi.
Holika Dahan Story:
According to Bhagavata Purana, once a demon king Hiranyakashipu wanted to be immortal. So, to fulfill this desire, he performed the required penances until he was granted a boon by Brahma. Since the Gods rarely granted immortality, he used his guile and cunning thoughts to get a boon that he thought made him immortal. Though different Puranas have different tellings of the boon, here we are going to say about the most popular one. Hiranyakashipu asked Brahma for five special powers: “he couldn’t be killed by a human being or an animal, he couldn’t be killed indoors or outdoors, he couldn’t be killed at day or night, he couldn’t be killed by Astra (projectile weapons), or by any Shastra (handheld weapons) and neither on land nor in water or air.” As this wish was granted, Hiranyakashipu felt invincible, which made him arrogant. He decreed that only he should be worshiped as a God. He punished and killed anyone who did not accept his orders. But his son Prahlad disagreed with him and refused to worship him as a god. He continued believing and worshipping Lord Vishnu. This made Hiranyakashipu very angry and he made various attempts to kill Prahlad. During a particular attempt on Prahlad’s life, King Hiranyakashipu called upon his sister Holika for help. Holika had a special cloak garment that prevented her from being harmed by fire. Hiranyakashipu asked her to sit on a bonfire with Prahlad, by tricking the boy to sit on her lap. However, as the fire roared, the garment flew from Holika and covered Prahlad. Holika burnt to death, and Prahlad came out unharmed. This story is known as Holika Dahan (Holika’s death), which signifies the triumph of good over evil. Holika is associated with the annual bonfire on the night before Holi, the Hindu festival of colors.
Holi Story – playing with Colours:
The second story is associated with the immortal love of Radha and Krishna. It was Krishna, the king of Dwarka, who popularized the tradition of Holi. The origin of the colorful and playful tone of Holi lies in the boyhood of Krishna. Kansa, king of Vrishni, and uncle of Krishna, sensed danger to his life from his infant nephew when he grows up. Kansa sent the demon Pootna, disguised as a woman, to poison the infant under the guise of breastfeeding. Baby Krishna sucks not only the poisonous milk but Pootna’s blood too. transforming her back into a demon. She ran and burst into flames while the infant Krishna transitioned into his characteristic dark blue skin color. The day before Phagwah is celebrated by burning Putna. According to the tales, in his youth, Krishna was sad about fair-skinned Radha. He also doubted whether Radha or other Gopis would like him because of his dark skin. His mother, tired of the desperation, asked him to approach Radha and color her face in any color he wanted. Krishna did this, and he and Radha became a couple. The playful coloring of the face of Radha has, henceforth, been celebrated as Holi. This ‘Holi’ play of Krishna and Radha with Gopis is well documented in hundreds of ancient paintings, murals, and scriptures.
There is also another story behind Holi that involves a burning sacrifice for the sake of love: the story of Shiva and Kamadev. Before Shiva was married to Goddess Parvati, Kamadeva (God of Love) and his wife Rati (Goddess of love) tried to help Goddess Parvati to win Shiva as her husband. Kamadev shot his arrow at Shiva to disturb his meditation, and to make him marry Parvati. But the disturbance caused Shiva to open his third eye and its powerful gaze burned Kamadeva into ashes and his wife Rati was heart-broken. Shiva and Parvati did marry. At their wedding, Rati begged Shiva to bring Kamadev back to her. Shiva agreed and restored Kamadeva as a virtual image with true emotions. Seeing this, all the Gods and Goddesses showered colors from the heaven.
In some parts of India, especially in Bengal and Orissa, Holi Purnima is also celebrated as the birthday of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.