The earth dons a riot of colours, the mango trees seem to drown under the weight of their tender blossoms, the rabi crop is ready to be harvested, the sounds of the chirping of birds fills the salubrious air… Rituraja Vasant (spring – the king of seasons as per the Indian tradition) has graced the land in full glory. As the raging flames from the Holi fire burning in the neighbourhood seem to brighten an already bright full-moon night of Phalguna in this season of nature’s splendour…we get ready to celebrate Holi (also referred to as Phalguni or Basantotsava). And celebrate we must…for the harsh winters are but a distant memory and the scorching heat of the summers have still not descended on the earth…
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Like the multitude of colours that Holi is primarily identified with in contemporary times, there are a multitude of stories behind Holi’s origins and Holi is celebrated in multitudinous ways. The celebration is ancient and finds mention in the Atharva Parishistas and some versions of the Kama Sutra (Raghavan, 1979). From Kama to Krishna, Holi is also associated variously with love and lovers and bhaktas and bhagwana. The word Holaka is mentioned in Ayurveda too.
Sanskrit Greetings for Holi
The Stories of Holi
One of the more popular stories is that Holika Dehan (burning of the Holi fire) is reminiscent of the burning of Holika. Holika at her brother Hiranyakashyap’s behest was trying to burn her little nephew Prahlada in the fire that finally consumed her. Hiranayakashap’s son Prahlada was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and refused to accept his father’s claims that he was more powerful than Lord Vishnu himself. It is also said that astrologers had prophesied that Prahlada would be the cause of his evil father’s death and hence his father wanted to get rid of him. Even today, a small log of wood is removed from the fire before it is lit as a symbol of Prahlada – the good who survived against all odds.
Kangra Painting dated 1788 CE
Courtesy: Victoria and Albert Museum, London
We will narrate one more story here on Holi which has been adapted from the Bhavishyaottara Purana and is a beautiful extended metaphor of the festival itself. It is said that when King Raghu was ruling in Ayodhya, a demoness named Dhendha (daughter of Malina – dirty, unclean) infested the city. The people of Ayodhya gathered wood, lumps of dried cow-dung and dried leaves and heaped them in a decorated enclosure. The heap was set on fire and people danced around the fire singing, laughing and abusing Dhendha. Unable to bear the abuse, Dhendha jumped in the fire and perished, thus purifying Ayodhya.
Guru Gobind Singhji built on the festival, adding a martial colour to it when he instituted Hola Mahalla at Anandpur Sahib. Hola Mahalla involves mock fights that display martial prowess and bravery, poetry contests, singing kirtans and remembering the Ek Onkar.
Since Holi is also an agrarian celebration in many parts of the country, sugarcane and the tender sprigs of new barley are offered to the fire. The roasted barley is distributed as prasad on the next day (it is referred to as Hola). Holi has a unique local and folk idiom to it. While in parts of popular imagination, Holi is synonymous with Bollywood songs; it is the traditional folk music and songs in India’s innumerable dialects that weave into the rich tapestry of our colourful culture. And it is not just folk songs; Holi is Holi because of the local food (thandai, ghujiyas, the list goes on) and because of our poets and artists who could not stop extolling the festival and the season.
The ‘Unholi’ in Holi
And while we extol Holi, it is pertinent to take a few moments to discuss the unholy that is forcefully finding its way into Holi celebrations and the malina (dirty) in a celebration of purity. Holi is inextricably linked to nature and there is absolutely nothing that suggests that healthy trees should be felled to set up Holikas that are bigger or that a Holika needs to be burnt at every nook and corner. The tradition (the extended metaphor quoted above) suggests the opposite. As mentioned earlier, Holi is also linked to love. It is however, not linked to harassment and not linked to the undignified. Holi is not an excuse for crossing the boundaries of propriety and it is incumbent upon us to stop any transgression under the garb of this festival.
The Essence of Holi
Holi is a community celebration. As the colours of Holi and the infinite colours of nature come together to form a breathtaking kaleidoscope; different human beings across meaningless distinctions created by us come together to form the kaleidoscope of our nation in specific and the earth in general. And lest we forget, Holi essentially celebrates our dependence on mother nature and her bounty.
References:
- Raghavan, V (1979).Festivals, Sports and Pastimes of India. Ahmedabad.
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