The Spiritual Significance of Holika Dehan
First day of Holi festival
The word Holi means to offer prayers to god for a good harvest. It is a two-day festival. Holi celebrations start with a bonfire on the night before Holi. The next day people play Holi, where they color each other and often mend the broken relationships.
A few days before the festival, people start gathering wood for the Holika bonfire. On top of the pyre, they place an effigy of Holika, the woman who tricked Prahlad into the fire.
On the eve of Holi, the pyre is lit, which is called Holika-Dehan. It represents that Holika is getting consumed by the fire in which she tried to kill her nephew Prahlad.
It symbolizes that we need to set all our negativity, bad habits, and resentment of any kind on fire. People sing and dance around the fire.
The story Holika-Dehan goes like this-
Once upon a time, there was a demon king named Hiranyakashyap, who viewed himself as God. He commanded everyone in his kingdom to worship only him. However, to his disappointment, his son Prahlad refused to do so and became a follower of…
