Happy Holi Day from Rucks and Rolls!
March 22nd 2008 00:00
Yes you read right and yes I wrote right...today is Holi Day. And yes a holiday.
Holi is the Hindu Festival of Colours, celebrated by young and old, rich and poor and people from all religions... regardless of color, race, sex or social status... it is truly, literally a festival of colours. And literally a time to paint the town red!...and orange and blue and pink...!
People smear colours and splash coloured water on each other and generally revel in being full of life! A special drink called bhang is prepared and people invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations in the evenings.
Holi is undoubtedly the most funfilled and boisterous of all the Hindu festivals!
Orblers...ask Lilla. She lived in India and has wonderful memories of this time and celebration.
Apart from this usual fun with coloured powder and water, Holi is marked by loud, noisy and grand processions, which are accompanied by folk songs, dances and a general sense of joy and vitality.
Please note: all this merriment...not so much in non Indian countries but yeah, we all go a bit crazy no matter where we are. No processions and not much powder but much joy!
It's also a confirmation of good triumphing over evil and the affirmation of the beauty of life.
It's not a coincidence that Holi is always around the same time as Easter but Holi is determined and celebrated by/on the first full moon of March so the dates change every year.
Holi is usually celebrated over 3 days.
On the first day...the day of the full moon (Holi Purnima) a platter is arranged with coloured powders ('gulal') and brass pots are filled with coloured water. Traditionally, the eldest male member of the family begins the festivities by sprinkling colours on each member of the family, and then it's on for young and old!
On the second day of the festival, bonfires are lit at night to signify burning the demoness Holika (see below)
Mothers often carry their babies five times in a clockwise direction around the fire, so that her children are blessed by Agni, the God of Fire.
The most boisterous and the final day of the festival is when, draped in white, people throng the streets in large numbers and visit each others home and smear each other with bright hued powders and squirt coloured water on one another through pichkaris (big syringe-like hand-pumps). It's a wonderful mess!...and very significant.
First is the symbolic significance. The 'filling in' of a blank canvas with all the vibrancy of life.
The 2nd purpose is rather practical!
Holi falls during the Northern hemisphere Spring which is why it is also known as the Spring festival) - when the weather changes and this transitional period is believed to cause viral fevers and colds.
Thus the playful and messy throwing of the coloured powders has medicinal value. The colours are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Ayurvedic doctors.
(Although.. the chemical colours of today have been deemed toxic...but we won't dwell on the negative aspects)
Originally Holi was a festival to celebrate good harvests and fertility of the land but there are many legends concerning the origin of this festival.
The most popular among these is about Prince Prahlad, the God faithful son of the demon King Hiranyakasipu.
Prahlad did not give up worshipping the God Vishnu in spite of the threats and persecution by his father and his demon aunt Holika, who was sent by her brother to kill the young Prahlad.
When Holika -who was immune to death by fire- took Prahlad and entered a blazing furnace built for his destruction, it was the wicked Holika who was burnt to ashes by divine intervention, while Prahlad came out unscathed.
Before she died, she realised her follies and begged the boy's forgiveness.
As his gesture of forgiveness, Prahlad deemed that her name would be remembered at least one day in the year.
Thus huge bonfires are burnt on the eve of Holi as its symbolic representation.
This passionate festival is also associated with the immortal love of Lord Krishna and his wife Radha.
...and because Krishna was a playful and romantic God and Spring is all about blossoming life... Holi enhances the vibrancy of this season with its riot of colors.
May the colours of Holi paint your life with love, happiness, prosperity, joy, peace, and success. Wishing you all a very Happy Holi.
Dusk
Thank you for clicking this;
Holi is the Hindu Festival of Colours, celebrated by young and old, rich and poor and people from all religions... regardless of color, race, sex or social status... it is truly, literally a festival of colours. And literally a time to paint the town red!...and orange and blue and pink...!
People smear colours and splash coloured water on each other and generally revel in being full of life! A special drink called bhang is prepared and people invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations in the evenings.
Holi is undoubtedly the most funfilled and boisterous of all the Hindu festivals!
Orblers...ask Lilla. She lived in India and has wonderful memories of this time and celebration.
Apart from this usual fun with coloured powder and water, Holi is marked by loud, noisy and grand processions, which are accompanied by folk songs, dances and a general sense of joy and vitality.
It's also a confirmation of good triumphing over evil and the affirmation of the beauty of life.
It's not a coincidence that Holi is always around the same time as Easter but Holi is determined and celebrated by/on the first full moon of March so the dates change every year.
Holi is usually celebrated over 3 days.
On the first day...the day of the full moon (Holi Purnima) a platter is arranged with coloured powders ('gulal') and brass pots are filled with coloured water. Traditionally, the eldest male member of the family begins the festivities by sprinkling colours on each member of the family, and then it's on for young and old!
On the second day of the festival, bonfires are lit at night to signify burning the demoness Holika (see below)
Mothers often carry their babies five times in a clockwise direction around the fire, so that her children are blessed by Agni, the God of Fire.
The most boisterous and the final day of the festival is when, draped in white, people throng the streets in large numbers and visit each others home and smear each other with bright hued powders and squirt coloured water on one another through pichkaris (big syringe-like hand-pumps). It's a wonderful mess!...and very significant.
First is the symbolic significance. The 'filling in' of a blank canvas with all the vibrancy of life.
The 2nd purpose is rather practical!
Holi falls during the Northern hemisphere Spring which is why it is also known as the Spring festival) - when the weather changes and this transitional period is believed to cause viral fevers and colds.
Thus the playful and messy throwing of the coloured powders has medicinal value. The colours are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Ayurvedic doctors.
(Although.. the chemical colours of today have been deemed toxic...but we won't dwell on the negative aspects)
Originally Holi was a festival to celebrate good harvests and fertility of the land but there are many legends concerning the origin of this festival.
The most popular among these is about Prince Prahlad, the God faithful son of the demon King Hiranyakasipu.
Prahlad did not give up worshipping the God Vishnu in spite of the threats and persecution by his father and his demon aunt Holika, who was sent by her brother to kill the young Prahlad.
When Holika -who was immune to death by fire- took Prahlad and entered a blazing furnace built for his destruction, it was the wicked Holika who was burnt to ashes by divine intervention, while Prahlad came out unscathed.
Before she died, she realised her follies and begged the boy's forgiveness.
As his gesture of forgiveness, Prahlad deemed that her name would be remembered at least one day in the year.
Thus huge bonfires are burnt on the eve of Holi as its symbolic representation.
This passionate festival is also associated with the immortal love of Lord Krishna and his wife Radha.
...and because Krishna was a playful and romantic God and Spring is all about blossoming life... Holi enhances the vibrancy of this season with its riot of colors.
May the colours of Holi paint your life with love, happiness, prosperity, joy, peace, and success. Wishing you all a very Happy Holi.
Dusk
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Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Happy Holi to you too, lovely Dusk!
Mich