Holi Festival - Holi, amongst the most distinct culturally-rooted festivals of India, evokes the buoyant spirit of the spring season. The way Holi in India stirs up excitement among people, no other festival can. Well known for its high-octane celebrations, the Holi festival is famously associated with colours and water balloons. Falling in the month of March/April in the Hindu calendar, the Holi festival celebrates the onset of spring and renewal. Coming forth with the full flush of life, the invigorating air of Holi festivities spreads into the lives of people throughout the year.
Holi Celebrations
Celebrated with unstoppable energy, Holi in India transcends all man-created biases and differences of caste and gender. The fervor of Holi festival takes into its grip everyone, especially the youngsters. Reflecting the heightened spirit of the Holi festivities, a strong sense of revelry is overly obvious on this day. People just let go of their emotions and demonstrate their affections and friendliness with complete freedom. This openness is apparent in Holi celebrations such as home get-togethers, Holi evening parties and card-game night-outs.
Interestingly, Holi festival has a massive appeal not only in India but across several continents. The Indian community abroad is known for making a big splash with the grand scale of Holi celebrations.
However, the most interesting moments of Holi festival is the pyramid-type arrangement with a pot of buttermilk hung very high up in the street. Men climb up this pyramid to break the pot, in the same way as Lord Krishna did when he was a child. Holi in India is never complete without the special Holi menus which include especially homemade rich sweet dishes like, 'gujiyas', 'malpuas' 'puranpolis.' Cool summer drinks like 'thandai', mixed with the intoxicating 'bhang', are eagerly looked forward to. Holi celebrations can be seen in full exuberance with children and adults indulging in a frenzied display of colored water play with friends, relations and peers. The evening is a more formal affair, with people greeting each other with 'gulal' or dry colours, wearing new clothes.
Holi in India is celebrated with equal vigor everywhere and brings out different aspects of this festival. Mathura, Vrindavan and Nandgaon in Uttar Pradesh are the bastions of Holi celebrations. 'Braj Holi' is extremely famous and people come from everywhere to play out the love legends associated with young Radha and Krishna. Haryana is famous for its 'Dulandi Holi'. Holi celebrations are held variously as 'Basant Utsav' in Shantiniketan, 'Dol Yatra' in parts of West Bengal and 'Hola Mohalla' at Anandpur Sahib, held the day just after Holi. Holi festivities in the north-east, especially that of the six-day gala celebrations in Manipur is well-known.
The traditional ideas of good versus evil and upholding of moral values are borne out by several mythical events associated with Holi celebrations. The burning of Holika figuratively played out by burning the effigies of Holika. Holi in India has an agrarian connotation, when people invoke 'Agni', the god of fire by humbly offering gram and stalks from the recent harvest. There is a practice of taking fire from the bonfire to homes to get rid of diseases. The connotations of cleanliness and purity also emerge as one tries to relate the general tradition of cleaning homes and wearing new clothes during Holi festival.
Holi Celebrations
Celebrated with unstoppable energy, Holi in India transcends all man-created biases and differences of caste and gender. The fervor of Holi festival takes into its grip everyone, especially the youngsters. Reflecting the heightened spirit of the Holi festivities, a strong sense of revelry is overly obvious on this day. People just let go of their emotions and demonstrate their affections and friendliness with complete freedom. This openness is apparent in Holi celebrations such as home get-togethers, Holi evening parties and card-game night-outs.
Holika Dahan Muhurta = 18:26 to 20:51
Duration = 2 Hours 25 Mins
Bhadra Punchha = 05:33 to 06:49
Bhadra Mukha = 06:49 to 08:55
Bhadra Punchha = 05:33 to 06:49
Bhadra Mukha = 06:49 to 08:55
However, the most interesting moments of Holi festival is the pyramid-type arrangement with a pot of buttermilk hung very high up in the street. Men climb up this pyramid to break the pot, in the same way as Lord Krishna did when he was a child. Holi in India is never complete without the special Holi menus which include especially homemade rich sweet dishes like, 'gujiyas', 'malpuas' 'puranpolis.' Cool summer drinks like 'thandai', mixed with the intoxicating 'bhang', are eagerly looked forward to. Holi celebrations can be seen in full exuberance with children and adults indulging in a frenzied display of colored water play with friends, relations and peers. The evening is a more formal affair, with people greeting each other with 'gulal' or dry colours, wearing new clothes.
Holi in India is celebrated with equal vigor everywhere and brings out different aspects of this festival. Mathura, Vrindavan and Nandgaon in Uttar Pradesh are the bastions of Holi celebrations. 'Braj Holi' is extremely famous and people come from everywhere to play out the love legends associated with young Radha and Krishna. Haryana is famous for its 'Dulandi Holi'. Holi celebrations are held variously as 'Basant Utsav' in Shantiniketan, 'Dol Yatra' in parts of West Bengal and 'Hola Mohalla' at Anandpur Sahib, held the day just after Holi. Holi festivities in the north-east, especially that of the six-day gala celebrations in Manipur is well-known.
The traditional ideas of good versus evil and upholding of moral values are borne out by several mythical events associated with Holi celebrations. The burning of Holika figuratively played out by burning the effigies of Holika. Holi in India has an agrarian connotation, when people invoke 'Agni', the god of fire by humbly offering gram and stalks from the recent harvest. There is a practice of taking fire from the bonfire to homes to get rid of diseases. The connotations of cleanliness and purity also emerge as one tries to relate the general tradition of cleaning homes and wearing new clothes during Holi festival.
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