Holi Festival of India

Name of Festival : Holi Festival

Time of celebration (Month)
Holi falls on the full moon day in the month of Phalgun Purnima in February end or early March.

Major Territory of Celebration
The festival of Holi is celebrated in North India

About Festival
Holi is a festival of color is marked as the opening festival in Hindu calendar, It heralds the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring and marks the rekindling of the spirit of life. Holi is celebrated by all the sections of the Indian society and crosses the barriers of religion and caste.

Other state of India like West Bengal , Orissa this festival is known as Dolyatra (Doul Jatra) or Basanta-Utsav (“spring festival”). Famous Holi is that of the Braj region, in locations connected to the god Krishna like Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon and Barsana.

People worship Kaamadeva– the god of love and passion for his extreme sacrifice in South India.In Vrindavan and Mathura, where Lord Krishna grew up, the festival is celebrated for 16 days (until Rangpanchmi) in commemoration of the divine love of Radha for Krishna.

Legends about festival
According to hindu myth there was legend of demon King Hiranyakashyap who demanded everybody in his kingdom to worship him. But his son Prahlad was a devotee of Lord Vishnu.That why Hiranyakashyap wanted killed Prahlad. He asked his sister Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap because Holika had a boon which made he immune to fire.So that people celebrated it as Holika Dahan.

Holika Dahan
On the day of Chhoti Holi people gather at important crossroads and light huge bonfires, that day also called the Holika Dahan. Holika Dahan is celebrated in memory of the young Prahlad accomplished when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire.Holika was burnt but Prahlad, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. In South India Holika Dahan known as Kama Dahanam. People throw gram and stalks into the Agni. Ashes left from this bonfire is also considered sacred and people apply it on their foreheads. People believe that the ashes protects them from evil forces.

Holy is associated with a legendry encounter between Hiranyakashyapu, a powerful demon king and his son Prahlad.

Festival of Color
Main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli Vandana in Sanskrit,also Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi. That day is celebrated by people throwing coloured and coloured water to each other. Bright colours of gulal and abeer fill the air and people take turns in pouring colour water over each other.On this day Women and senior citizen form groups called tolis and move in colonies for applying colours and exchanging greetings. People dance on the rhythm of dholak and eat the holi recipes like – Gujia ,Dahi Bada ,Puran Poli , Bhang Ki Lassi , Thandai etc.