Origin of Holi

It is my strong belief that Festivals were created to ensure positive energy is infused in society at frequent intervals.  Any festival from any religion can be celebrated for a simple reason; get friends and families together and infuse love and warmth. Celebration of a festival is incomplete without passing on the rituals and significance to next generation, that in turn ensures that the significance is not detached from celebration.

Some where between the coloured water, balloons, family get together and multiple colours, I remember studying the story of Prahlad and Holika Dahan in my Hindi Book , how this festival is yet again a symbol of victory of Good over evil. While Holika with negative intentions got burnt to ashes, Prahlad who believed in His God, survived with the help of his belief and chanting Lord Vishnu’s name even though he was sitting in Holika’s Lap.

While researching more about Holi and its significance I also came across this interesting fact, “Holi which is celebrated during the change in weather, induces the growth of bacteria in the atmosphere and the body. When Holika is burnt, temperature around rises high. Further when people perform Parikrima around this fire as part of ritual, heat generated from this fire helps cleansing body by killing bacteria.”

Role of colors is related to  Shri Krishna (Re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu). He enjoyed applying colours to Shri Radha and other Gopis, which over a period of time became a tradition and spread across India. Apart from mythological significance there are enough studies to show how different colours create a positive impact on our thought process and over all well being. Additionally, ions in Colors that are used in natural form also assist in strengthening ions in our body, which lead to better health and beauty.

Our ancestors have always lived Holi as a day with Principle of forget and forgive, they have passed on the message of forgetting enmity and making friends.

Many a families have ritual of eating only cold food on the day of Holi, Apart from the health benefits (Good to control body sugar and blood pressure) that a stale Roti has, I believe this ritual was created to ensure that ladies of the house could also enjoy the festival without worrying about the food.

I hope you all had a wonderful day.

P.S. People under the influence of Bhang may want to read the blog again in sober state.

Manisha Dawar