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Holi-The
Holi History
To relate to this Indian festival, Holi, run your imagination wild, think of as many colours as you can, because Holi is the festival of colors. If you are walking down the streets and notice stalls that sell colored powders (called 'abeer'), and hawkers shouting "Holi Hai" (meaning "It's Holi"), it's a clear indication that the time of the year has arrived when fun would take over.
This exuberant festival of colors, Holi, falls on a full moon day in the month of 'Phalgun', this time falling on the March 25. It is celebrated with great vigor, as the crops have been harvested and the winter season has gone, so it is a time when farmers rejoice with open hearts and everything around reverberates in bright shades.
Being one of the oldest festivals of the Aryans, references of Holi can be found in Sanskrit scriptures and also in several religious manuscripts. Bhavbhooti, in his play, "Maltic-Madhav", has given a beautiful description of the king mingling with his subjects on this special day of Holi to make merry. And the festival of Holi has also been given just recognition by the well-known literary Nobel laureate of India, Rabindranath Tagore, by making the Holi celebrations (Vasantotsav) a coveted tradition in his Shantiniketan or Biswabharati University. The importance of Holi lies in the fact that, in India, it's a day of forgiveness and equality, of coming close forgetting past differences whatsoever. So if you want to bridge up with someone, here's your reason to-it's Holi !
Now, if you're a little keen on knowing the origins of this colorful festival of Holi, you're sure to come across the numerous myths and stories associated with Holi. In south Indian states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the most popular legend is that of "Kamdeva"-the God of Love. It is believed that during one of his hunting ventures he broke the trance of Lord Shiva using one of his love arrows. In blind fury, Lord Shiva opened his third eye and destroyed Kama to ashes. Kama's wife Rati could not take the loss of her husband and beseeched Lord Shiva to restore life in him. Lord Shiva, being touched by Rati's grief, then granted Kama eternal life.
Another very interesting myth behind the celebration of this Holi festival is the story of Hiranyakashyapu and his son Prahlad. After his victory over the earth, Hiranyakashyapu claimed himself to be God and forced everybody to worship him. His son Prahlad, being an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu defied doing so. Hence, Hiranyakashyapu ordered his sister Holika, who could never be burnt, to walk through fire holding Prahlad. Lord Vishnu saved Prahlad but Holika perished. This marked the victory of Good over Evil. Today's custom of bonfires actually took hold from this, symbolizing Holika's destruction in the face of an all-pervading goodness.
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