HOLI

HOLI – FESTIVAL OF COLOR

 

Introduction

Holi is one of the festivals which is mostly celebrated by Hindu in Nepal and India as well as all over the world and Holi can also be called as the festivals of colors as the Holi is celebrated with colors and water too. Holi is an annual festival which is observed on February- March i.e by the end of winter and start of spring season. It is the festival that is specially followed by Hindus. During Holi people apply different colors on each other’s face and play with color and water. Similarly, on the day of Holi people throw balloons filled with water and color on people who walk on way as fun who are playing Holi or applying colors among friends. 

In Nepal, Holi is named as Fagu Purnima and is celebrated on the full moon day and in 2023 Holi is on 6th March in other region and on 6th march in Terai. In Nepal, Holi is celebrated for two different days respectively as people from Terai region observed Holi on the next day whereas other regions celebrate Holi on previous day. On the day of Holi different programs are organized such as concerts, Holi party and other programs where people are seen wearing particular t-shirt with the print of Holi wishes.

History

There are various stories based on Holi. According to Bhagbat Puran, one of the religious books of Hindu- it is written that Hiranyakashyap used to had a special gift that made him so arrogant as one would be able to kill in as form of human or animal, he can’t be killed either in land or air, not even outdoor or indoor, not in day or night and even by any weapons which made him that everyone should worship or follow him but his son Prahlad was the devotee of Lord Vishnu and no matter how much he asked Prahlad not to worship Lord Vishnu his son denied his words anger Hiranyakashyap requested his sister Holika to killed Prahlad. By the request of Hiranyakashyap, Holika agreed to sit on a pyre along with Prahlad but nothing happened to Prahalad instead Holika died by burning by that fire even though she had power not to be burned so, in India, people observed Holi along with Holika Dahan as a victory over sins. Likewise, lord Vishnu by forming himself as half human and half lion killed Hiranyakashyap by placing in his lap on the doorstep in the evening by using his lion claws.

On the other hand, Holi is also celebrated as the festival of love as well which means Holi is somehow connected with the love of Radha and Krishna. As Krishna had darker skin he asked his mother Yashoda why he has dark skin whereas Radha doesn’t and in response Yashoda suggested him by asking Radha to apply color on his face as result they started applying color with each other since then Holi began as a festival of color and also as the love of Radha and Krishna.

 

In conclusion, Holi is one of the most joyful festival which is celebrated with various of color among with friends and families. Once a year, people enjoy this festival with the color as color represents the power, motivation, strengths, intimacy, peace, fun and many more. Just like the variation of colors each person is with different nature too so we must learn to enjoy the happiness, manage ourselves in sadness, have fun and work to get success. So Happy Holi to all and may everyone’s life be filled with variations just like colors.