Holi, The Festival of Colours
#SoundSundays
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Traditionally speaking, Holi is an ancient festival inspired by a number of religious texts in the Hindu culture and has spread to a great many communities. Today for #SoundSundays, we invite you to learn more about this vibrant cultural festival and learn more!
“Today, the essence of the holiday lies in letting go and trusting that life is on the right path and having fun with colours and others.” — K. Sharma
What is the festival of Holi?
Known as the festival of colours and the festival of sharing love, Holi is a spring celebration that tends to fall somewhere between the end of February and the middle of March of the Gregorian calendar. The root of Holi is derived from the Sanskrit word, Holika, meaning, “parched grains,” harboring deep cultural and religious significance as a ritual for the promotion of good health.
Intrinsic to Holi is the legend of Holika, Prahlad, and Hiranyakshyap. The legend says there once lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakshyap who considered himself a god and wanted everybody to worship him. To his dismay, his son, Prahlad began to worship Lord Naarayana. The devil king commanded his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a scarf whereby she could enter fire without any damage on herself. Legend has it that Prahlad was saved for his extreme devotion for the lord while Holika paid a price for her sinister desire.
Holi also celebrates the legend of Radha and Krishna which describes the extreme delight, Krishna took in applying colour on Radha and other gopis. This prank of Krishna later, became a trend and a part of the Holi festivities. Texts also state that Holi is the celebration of death of Ogress Pootana who tried to kill infant, Krishna by feeding poisonous milk to it. Another legend of Holi which is extremely popular in Southern India is that of Lord Shiva and Kaamadeva. According to the legend, people in south celebrate the sacrifice of Lord of Passion Kaamadeva who risked his life to revoke Lord Shiva from meditation and save the world.
How is Holi practiced today?
Every year, participants join in a couple different rituals as part of the larger celebration.
It starts with preparation.
Days prior to the actual celebration, those involved will begin to gather the wood for lighting the bonfire called Holika — they’ll need this wood by the night of the actual festival.
The burning of Holika.
On the eve of Holi, the burning of a Holika effigy takes place. The religious significance comes from the legend of Holika, where the burning of her effigy symbolizes the victory of good over evil and the triumph of a true devotee. This ritual is called Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi.
The play of colours.
“Holi is a little scary because you cannot walk out of your house without being ambushed by strangers who will attack you with colour.” — R. Shankar
Following Holika Dahan, comes what is considered the main day of Holi celebrations. The Dhuleti is the day on which comes the actual, “Play of Colours.” Amid the activity of spraying coloured water and powder, people may enjoy in some of the delicacies associated with the festival, such as gujiya, mathri, and malpuas, to name a few. (Dhuletti can often go by the names of Rangwali Holi, Dhulandi, or Dhulivandan.)
It’s this day where most of the fun happens.
“The pink stays. Like for a whole week. The other colours will wash off but the pink will always stay. It’s fun to see your classmates come into school the day after holi; you can tell who participated and who didn’t.” — R. Shankar
In some places, Dhuletti usually begins with people waking up and eating some of the sweets associated with the festival. After that a bit of colour is put on everyone’s faces; then it’s up to each person to participate or not. While families in apartments and gated communities might organize their own personal parties, where everyone is invited to play with colour, with music and food, the general public will usually play on the streets.
“There’s these things that people use called pichkaris, which are like water guns but like 1000x worse, they’re like a tube where you fill in the water (nobody uses plain colour anymore it’s all mixed in water), and then kind of like a syringe, you force the water out one end and it’s super powerful and if you know anyone that owns a pichkari then you stay the hell away.” — R. Shankar
Celebrations usually die down by the time afternoon rolls around, with everyone going back to lunch or family dinners. After the day of play, people clean themselves, wash and bathe as best they can, sober up, and spend the evening visiting and exchanging sweets with friends and relatives. As a festival of forgiveness and new starts, Holi stands to generate harmony among those in participating communities!
“The streets on the days after Holi are works of art.” — R. Shankar
Who celebrates Holi? Where is it celebrated?
Holi has been traditionally celebrated by those who practiced Hinduism, however, it has become popular with a number of non-Hindus in many parts of South Asia, and outside of Asia.
Holi is primarily observed in India, Nepal, and in other regions of the world by those Hindu, Indian, or Nepalese origins. India is a large country, and as a land with sub-continent status, cultural variations can be found from all over. While festivities are typically two-days in most incarnations, celebrations can last longer than a week, as seen in the Braj region near Mathura, in northern India. One such variation celebrated in the Braj region is Lath Mar Holi. During this celebration, women use sticks to playfully beat on the men who carry shields.
Holi continues to be observed in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Suirname, Guyana, South Africa, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mauritius, and Fiji. These rituals, too, tend to vary with local adaptations.
Holi, under the name of Phagwah or Phagwa, in Trinidad, a Carnival-like atmosphere stretches out across participating communities, including the singing of folk songs called chowtal, accompanied by the dholak, a small hand drum, and majeera, which are percussive instruments. The observance of Holi in Trinidad and Tobago, was introduced by indentured East Indian laborers around the year 1845.
How has Holi had an effect on people outside of their culture?
Despite religious significance, Holi, as a culture of sharing, love, colours, and forgiveness, has spread to many cultures beyond those of Indian diaspora.
A number of Holi-inspired social events have also surfaced, in Europe and the United States, often organized by companies as for-profit or charity events with paid admission, and with varying scheduling that does not coincide with the actual Holi festival. These have included Holi-inspired music festivals such as the Festival Of Colours Tour and Holi One (which feature timed throws of Holi powder), and 5K run franchises such as The Color Run and Color Me Rad, in which participants are doused with the powder at per-kilometre checkpoints.
There have been concerns that these events appropriate and trivialize aspects of Holi for commercial gain — downplaying or completely ignoring the cultural and spiritual roots of the celebration.
It’s an important conversation to have.
This brings another one of our #SoundSundays to a close, but, this doesn’t mean we’ve reached the end! Take the time to expand your thoughts beyond that of just the event. While Holi is a time of love, passion, and joy, the blend between both religious and secular communities is a promotion of harmony, forgiveness, and, of course, love.
International House has a commitment to sharing these cultures respectfully and with many wishes, we hope you too take the chance to learn more about the cultures of those around you! This is only the beginning!
“I love the celebration of colours and the vibrance of Life. It’s a holiday that proves that happiness isn’t too hard to obtain. A time when social barriers melt away, where everyone is basically the same (people usually dress in all white, like a blank canvas). It’s a moment of spontaneous connection with new people, all of which have the same agenda, to get colour on you. It’s a holiday that sort of crosses cultures and borders and brings society closer together.” — K. Sharma
Many thanks to Kshitiz Sharma, Ramya Shankar, some others (who have asked not to be publicly named) for all of their help!
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