All over the whole World, India is one of the most popular country is known for its numerous festival and celebrations. India has several festivals which come in different months and people come together in a place to celebrate a festival joyfully. Among all the festivals one of the popular and most enjoyable festival is Holi. Holi is pronounced as Holy. It is a festival where people use different types of colors and water balloons. By throwing the water balloons and colors on each other they celebrate the cultural festival Holi in the month of March. Subsequently, according to The Hindu calendar, Holi occurs on the month of Phalguna.
Before the summer season enters or starts in India, Holi is celebrated throughout the whole India including all the states, cities, and each corner of India. Holi is recognized as a global festival for all of us. Even in foreign countries, people love to celebrate the festival of Holi and play with colors and water balloons. While celebrating the festival of Holi the whole family, friends and relatives come together in a place and enjoy throughout the whole day with colors and waters. This is the day when everyone looks full of color and a big smile on their face initially.
What is the history of Holi?
The Hindu festival Holi is interconnected with Hindu mythology and the festival has numerous Legends involved within it. However, the story of Holi or the history of Holi revolves around the demon king Hiranya Kashyap, his son Pralhad, his aunt demon Holika and Lord Vishnu. On the other side, Hiranya Kashyap Was blessed with the power that none of the men or animals can kill him. Therefore, he wanted to be worshipped by his fellow people. However, his son Pralhad was fully devoted to Lord Vishnu and worshiped Lord Vishnu every day.
While watching his son worship Lord Vishnu he becomes very much angry with him. For this behavior he decides a punishment for his son with his sister demon Holika. Later both Prahlad’s father and Holika prepare a bonfire. Being angry with his son Pralhad his father Hiranya Kashyap orders his sister Holika to set him free on the bonfire. On the other side by following the words his brother Holika took Pralhad nearest to the bonfire. She was in believing that the fire will not harm her as she wore a shawl. Unfortunately, Pralhad is being saved by Lord Vishnu while at the same time Holika died in the bonfire.
After this incident, Lord Vishnu took the avatar of Narsimha a half-animal and half-human being. And subsequently, the demon king Hiranyakashyap was killed by Lord Vishnu in the avatar of Narasimha. This incident simply shows the victory over evil by good. Therefore every year one day before Holi, people celebrate Holika Dahan by preparing a bonfire. A day before the Holi, people come in a place together and celebrate Holika Dahan by memorizing the Hindu mythology.
When is Holi celebrated?
According to the Hindu calendar, the festival of Holi comes either ends in February or in the month of March. The date of the festival depends on the Hindu calendar. However, maximum of the time people celebrate this colorful festival in the month of February. Besides that, Holi also celebrated the month of Phalguna. Generally, Holi celebrated for 2 days. The first day evening starts with the ritual of Holika Dahan. And the main festival begins the next day just after this Holika Dahan ritual. Subsequently, on this year 2022 Holi will be appeared on 18 March according to the Hindu calendar.
How is Holi celebrated?
This colorful festival starts in India with the theme of bonfires a day just before Holi. In the evening people come together and take rounds beside the bonfire. While taking rounds on the Bonfire they make several wishes to the Lord Vishnu. On the other hand, when the main Holi festival starts in the latter-day people gather at a specific place where everyone is dressed up in white clothes. People come with Gulal in the form of color powders and water balloons to celebrate the festival by throwing the water balloons and Gulal on each other.
On the other side people often visit their friends and relatives’ houses with sweets and colorful powders to celebrate Holi each other. They will celebrate the festival with Bhang and Thandai equally. Different types of tasty Pakwan are also available on the day for eating. By eating all these things and throwing the color powders on each other people celebrate the Holi festival.
Where is Holi celebrated?
All over whole India Holi is broadly celebrated in most of the cities and States. Even this festival is celebrated in foreign countries as well like New York, America, and so many others. Besides that in India, the Grand parties are thrown on the day of Holi. You can see e the Holi parties in New Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur, and other places as well.
Subsequently, Holi is also celebrated at Mathura, the place of Lord Krishna. Mathura is just 100 miles away from New Delhi. On the day of Holi, people come from different locations to attend the cultural festival in Mathura. On the day of the holiday, the temples and streets of Mathura are fully decorated with flowers and colorful objects. Throughout the whole day, people celebrate the day by dancing and singing, and throwing colors at each other. Additionally, they also drink different types of Thandai and Bhang as well.
Why has Holi become popular outside India?
The festival Holi became popular over the seas as well. The main reason for celebrating Holi in foreign countries is just because there remain lots of Hindus and South Asian people. They celebrate the festival of Holi every year with their friends and relatives. Not even just Holi, they celebrate also Durga Puja and other Hindu festivals as well. Additionally, the popularity of the Holi festival is just because of the colorful powders and the joy of the celebration. It is a festival when all the people come to a place and share some beautiful moments by spreading the colors of Holi. This is the reason why Holi became popular outside of India as well.
Significance of Holi
The festival Holi brings with the season spring. It is the season of harvesting for the farmer for new crops in the field. Even Holi also remarks that the end of the winter season is as well. According to the Hindu calendar in the month of Phalguna, the festival of Holi is celebrated throughout the whole of India on the Purnima, Full moon day.
Ritual of Holi
On the day of the Holi festival, we usually watch our kids playing with water balloons Gulal and water guns with their friends. On the other side, the elders called numerous parties on the day of Holi and by playing famous Holi songs they usually dance with their friends, relatives, and beloved. Subsequently, people brought numerous mouth-watering dishes on the day for eating. Moreover, people come with sweets, Gujiya, Thandai, and Bhang to drink. Moreover, people also mix cannabis within bhang as well. Even in Bengal, people celebrate the festival of Holi with full of joy and enthusiasm. Holi is also known as Dol Purnima in Bengal.
Several Holi parties have been thrown in different areas and locations on the day of Holi. Every year you can watch the celebration of Holi within your local area, your workplaces and in your relatives’ houses as well. The festival Holi brings a lot of happiness, joy, and some good moments to spend with our loved ones. This is another one of the reasons why people like to celebrate the festival Holi with their friends, family and relatives every year.
Conclusion
Therefore, this is the whole story behind the Holi festival. We also share the history behind celebrating the Holi festival throughout the whole of India and outside India as well. We hope we offered you all the significant information about the Indian cultural festival Holi in detail.