Don’t Mind..Colors.. It’s Holi

Holi is on March 17th 2014

 Holi is the  Festival of colors, fun and play, music and dance, and of course the most fun filled and boisterous of Hindu festival.

Holi is known by the name of "Kama Dahana" occurs one day before Holi, which refers to this day, Kamadev was burnt by Lord Shiva. In North India ,a tradition is followed on the eve of Holi-huge bundles of wood are accumulated and burnt at night. On the next day, people play   Holi joyfully with colored water. 

Almost everywhere one can hear the laughter of people and screaming Holi-hai!. In India people gather in the streets and pump colored water over the body even the strangers who pass by.There  is no restriction on this day. People compose and sing  famous bollywood Holi songs to mark this occasion.

The Legend

The Holika-Prahlad Episode

The evolution of the term Holi makes an interesting 

study in itself. Legend has it that it derives its name 

from Holika, the sister of the mythical megalomaniac 

king Hiranyakashipu who commanded everyone to 

worship him. But his little son Prahlad refused to do

so. Instead he became a devotee of Vishnu, the 

Hindu God.

Hiranyakashipu ordered his sister Holika to kill 

Prahlad and she, possessing the power to walk 

through fire unharmed, picked up the child and 

walked into a fire with him. Prahlad, however,

 chanted the names of God and was saved from the 

fire. Holika perished because she did not know that 

her powers were only effective if she entered the 

fire alone.

This myth has a strong association with the festival

of Holi, and even today there is a practice of hurling 

cow dung into the fire and shouting obscenities at it,

as if at Holika.


 Legend of Lord shiva

The legend has it that when Lord Shiva's consort Sati committed herself to fire due to disgrace shown by her father Daksha to Shiva, Lord Shiva became extremely sad. He renounced his worldly duties and went into deep meditation.

Meanwhile, the daughter of the mountains, Parvati started meditating to acquire Shiva as her husband. Moreover, since Shiva was least interested in the affairs of the world complications began to generate in matters of the world which made all the gods concerned and afraid.

The gods then seeked the help of Lord Kaamadeva, the god of love and passion to bring Shiva back to his original self. Kaamadeva knew that he might have to suffer the consequences of doing this, but he accepted to shoot his arrow on Shiva for the sake of the world.

As planned Kaama shot his love arrow on Shiva while he was in meditation. This made Shiva extremely angry and he opened his third eye - reducing Kaamadeva to ashes. However, Kaamadeva arrow had the desired effect and Lord Shiva married Parvati.

A short while after this, Kaamadeva's wife, Rati pleaded Lord Shiva and said this was all the plan of the gods and asked him to to kindly revive Kaamadeva. An embodiment of love himself, Lord Shiva gladly accepted to do so.Thus the incident had a happy ending for all.

It is often believed that it was on this day that Lord Shiva opened his third eye and incinerated Kamadeva, the god of love, to death. So many people worship Kamadeva on Holi-day.

Legend of Radha Krishna

Holi is also celebrated in memory of the immortal love of Lord Krishna and Radha. The young Krishna would complain to his mother Yashoda about why Radha was so fair and he so dark. Yashoda advised him to apply colour on Radha's face and see how her complexion would change. In the legends of Krishna as a youth he is depicted playing all sorts of pranks with the gopis or cowgirls. One prank was to throw colored powder all over them. So at Holi, images of Krishna and his consort Radha are often carried through the streets. Holi is celebrated in the villages around Mathura, the birth-place of Krishna.

Rituals of Holi

Rituals of the ancient festival of Holi are religiously 

followed every year with care and enthusiasm.

Preparations

Days before the festival people start gathering wood for 

the lighting of the bonfire called Holika at the major

crossroads of the city. This ensures that at the time of 

the actual celebration a huge pile of wood is collected.


Holika Dahan Celebrations

Then on the eve of Holi, Holika Dahan takes place. 

The ritual symbolises the victory of good over evil and 

also the triumph of a true devotee.

 Holi In Bollywood

Holi and Bollywood have a long standing history. The Film Industry never forgets to set stage for Holi, in actual practice  also, Blolywood becomes a lively place for Holi celebration. Recalling  the ultimate   Holi song  first strikes my mind is Amitabh Bachan’s  Rang Barse  from “Silsila “ cannot be compared to any other that still makes us dance with the crazy crowd around.

My favorite actor Amitabh has justified the famous Holi song with an element of masti.,unabashed flirting and the consequent was incorporated into the festivities with Rekha. Dancing under the influence of bhang which created history in bollywood.

Sweets

There are famous and delicious dishes prepared during Holi. After playing color one enjoys eating these foods with great pleasure. Holi is also famous for the variety of sweets that are offered to the visitors that come to apply colors and enjoy the sweets offered by the host.

Bhang

 Associated with Lord Shiva, bhang has now become synonymous with Holi. Out of several ways of preparing bhang the most popular is the buds and leaves of cannabis squashed and ground into a green paste. To this mixture milk, ghee, and spices are added. This bhang base is turned to thandai.

 Tandai

 It is a cool drink made of poppy seeds, aniseeds, black peppercorns and rose petals, the buds and leaves of Cannabis using a mortar and pestle into a green paste. It is then mixed with milk, ghee, and spices which is latter on served along with ice cubes in the glass.


MAMA

Holi is the time to develop understanding and love for 

each other.Here, is a platform for you all to renew your

friendship.