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Holi-The
Festival Of Colors
Red, green, yellow, blue, pink, purple or orange-have you chosen your colors already ? Well, if not, brace up. Choose the shades and get ready to splash some fun your loved ones' way. For, it's Holi on March 25 and it sure calls for a colorful celebration ! Holi (or Holika, as it's remotely called in some parts of India) is the festival of springtime, the festival of fun and joy, the festival of youth, the festival of 'letting go' and most importantly, the festival of colors ! Holi is the time for a frenzied merrymaking when everything all around is drowned in bright hues, loud cries and colorful gaiety. If you've ever been a part of a Holi celebration, you must have noticed how people go wild swashing friends and neighbors alike in coloured water (called 'gulal') and smearing them with colored powder (called 'abeer') and hurling water-balloons at whoever passes to raise the fun fahrenheit to hilarious degrees as the confounded faces stare in utter dismay at their new-found colored 'glory' !
Holi is one of the most ancient festivals of India and bears religious, cultural and literary significance as well ! It's the time to come closer in the spirit of renewal and it's also a time symbolizing the triumph of all Good over all Evil. There are a few myths and legends to which this Holi festival can be traced to. But the differences of the narratives notwithstanding, the all-encompassing spirit of goodness and virtue is the common thread in all these legends behind the festival of Holi.
Since it falls on the 'Vasanta ritu' or spring season in the Hindu calendar, Holi is also popularly known as 'Vasantotsav' ('vasanta' meaning spring and 'utsav' meaning festival). Hence a spring festival. Holi heralds the coming of the bountiful springtime and the end of the harsh winter months. Thus the spirit of renewal, happiness and merrymaking is at the heart of the Holi celebrations. It's celebrated on a full moon day in the month of 'Phalgun' but the Holi festivities and rituals kick off the night before when the bonfires are lit up to symbolize the warding off of all evil from this world. People scream "Bura na mano, Holi hai" (Don't bear any ill-feelings in your heart because it's Holi) and wish each other a very "Happy Holi" ! So get into the groove of a color frenzy and celebrate Holi being right out on the tiles !
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