The celebration of Holi is very ancient in its origin. And by its very origin, it celebrates an ultimate triumph of the 'good' over the 'evil'. While, a feast of colors associated with the Holi, is the face of this celebration, the original reason of celebrating Holi, lies in its soul. And this gives us the 'why' of this ancient festival.Literally "Holi" signifies "burning" in Indian language. But, how it came to be associated with 'burning', is a story. The reference is found only in ancient Indian mythology. And It is the legend of Hiranyakashipu, to whom the celebration of Holi is associated.
Way back in the pre-Christian era, there lived a demon king named Hiranyakashipu in ancient India. He wanted to avenge the death of his younger brother. The brother, also a demon, had been killed by Lord Vishnu, one of the supreme trio, monitoring the life and death in the universe, (according to the Hindu belief). To take on Vishnu, the tyrant king wanted to become the king of the heaven, earth and the underworld. He performed severe penance and prayer for many years to gain enough power. Finally he was granted a boon. Powered by the boon, Hiranyakshipu thought he had become invincible. Arrogant, he ordered all in his kingdom to worship him, instead of God. The demon king, however, had a very young son, named Prahalad. He was an ardent devotee of Vishnu. Despite his father's order, Prahalad continued to pray to Vishnu. So the demon king wanted to kill his son. He asked the favor of his sister Holika who, because of a boon, was immune to fire. They planned that Prahalad would be burned to death. A pyre was lit up and Holika sat on it, clutching Prahalad. Yet, at the end Prahalad emerged unscathed by the fire, And Holika, the demon, was burned to ashes. The earnest devotion and complete submission to Lord Vishnu savedyoung Prahlad. Thus was the triumph of Prahlad, the representative of good spirits. And the defeat of Holika, the representative of evil. Later, even the demon king Hiranyakashipu was killed by Lord Vishnu. But that is quite a different story. It is from Holika, that the Holi originated. This legend is relived even today on the Holi-eve
when the pyre is re-lit in the form of bonfires. Even today, people celebrate this occasion. Huge bonfires are lit up every year on the eve of the full moon night of the Holi to burn the spirit of the evils. Hence the story associated with the soul of the celebration.
Now, let us look into the face of it. How did the celebration of Holi assume a colorful face? Well, it is linked to yet another legend, the legends of Krishna. Though of much later origin, still, it was in the pre-Christian era.
According to the Hindu belief, Krishna was a reincarnation of lord Vishnu himself. It was Krishna, or, Krishns, the king of the ancient city of Dwarka, who popularised the tradition of Holi. The origin of the colorful and frolicking tone of Holi lies in the boyhood of Krishna. It all came up as part of his pranks, he used to play with his boyhood mates of Gokul and Vrindavan. Situated in north India, these are the places where he spent his childhood.
It was at this time of year, Krishna used to play pranks by drenching the village girls, with water and colors. At first it offended the girls. But they were so fond of this mischievous boy that soon their anger melted away. And, it did not take long for other boys to join in, making it a popular sport in the village. Later, as Krishna grew up, the play assumed a new dimension. It added more colors to Krishna's legendary love life. The legend of Krishna's courtship with Radha, and playing pranks with the 'Gopi's. The girls in the 'dairy' village of Gokul were mostly milkmaids, and, hence locally known as the Gopis. The same tradition has transpired through the ages, turning it into a community festival of the masses. As time kept flowing, the culture spread roots to other regions of the country. The Holi play of Krishna is documented in hundreds of ancient paintings, murals, sculptures and scriptures found across the subcontinent.
Celebrations of Holi
The celebration of Holi has different aspects. It is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, a carnival of colors, a community festival, and a tradition of ancient spring rites.Though the grand finale takes place on the full moon day of Phalguna, the play stretches for about a week or so, especially in North of India. However, in the rest of India, the main functions start in the afternoon before the final day.The day before the full moon day of the Holi is called as the Small Holi. Children lit up bonfires and sing and dance around it. The evil spirit, symbolized by all those dead leaves, twigs, dirt and filth that collects during the winter months, is thrown up in the fire. Quite a spring cleaning indeed!
People sometimes take embers from the fire to their homes to rekindle their own domestic fires. In some community, a pot of new barley seeds is placed for roasting under the pyre before the bonfire is lit up. These seeds are eaten after the fire dies down. The yields in the coming harvest season are predicted by reading the direction of the flames or by the state of the roasted seeds in the pot.The ashes from the Holi fire are also believed to provide protection against diseases. It's something similar to the ancinet rites of burning Maypole in the West part of the globe.
The carnival of colors:
The main event of Holi is indeed a carnival of colors. On this day, children, friends and neighbors come out on the streets. And the spree to color-anyone-you-see takes over. Colors of all form and variety. They come in shades of red, orange, blue, green, and purple, and the likes. And they are available in oil, water or powder base.Colored powder, or, gulal was earlier made out of Dried seeds of some tropical flowers like the Palash, and dried silt from the riverbed. This has now given way to synthetic dyes, available in the form of pigments. For a glittering effect, fine dust of Mica are also mixed with the powdered dye. People throw these colored powders in the air as they shout "Holi Hai!", and smear each other with this colored powder.
Also they wet each other with colored water from Pitchkaris. Colored water is prepared by mixing the pigments of synthetic dyes. These dyes are available in a range of shades. These are sold by most of the local grocers and special purpose kiosks which crop up only for those Holi days. These outlets also sell other Holi accessories, like Pitchkaris, balloons, and head gears, along with coloring pigments. A Pitchkari is a kind of long syringe or sprinkler throwing jets of water from a distance. Also water-filled baloons are used these days to charge the target with a splash of color. Indeed the effect is blasting enough to be taken aback. So don't get shocked if you go out in the streets, on this day, and suddenly, a balloon darts at you, leaving you wet and colored!
Community festival:
It is a community festival that bridges the social gap. People color each other with gulal and other form of dyes. Young men throw coloured powder and coloured water on women. They also visit homes, distribute sweets and greet each other. Men, women, adult and children all take part in dances and other cultural programs.
Vasanta utsava and the Spring rites:
Holi bears close similarities with the important ancient festival called Vasantotsava, an age-old tradition of celebrating the arrival of spring. This festival was celebrated as a day when people forgot caste and gender differences and were allowed many liberties, otherwise forbidden. And like any spring festival celebrated by ancient peoples all over the world, Vasantotsava also had certain rites. These include lighting up of fires, driving off demons, setting the normal orders in reverse, sporting something weird, having a community feast, and so on.
The tradition of coloring each other,
the no-holds-barred play with colors between young men and women, taking out processions in weird gears, the greetings with yummy sweet dishes the bonfires in the evening before the full moon night of the Holi, are all leftovers of those ancient spring rites.