Holi is a significant Hindu festival marking the end of winter and the arrival of spring, celebrated on the last full moon of the lunar month Phalgun. The festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil, particularly the story of Prahalad and Holika, and includes customs like bonfire lighting and playful color smearing, originating from the playful celebrations of Lord Krishna. Though traditionally celebrated with natural colors, modern practices have introduced chemical dyes, which has raised concerns about safety and health.

1. Why Celebrate Holi ?...
Holi is an importantfestivaltoHindus.Itiscelebratedatthe endof the winterseasononthe lastfull
moonday of the lunarmonthPhalgun(February/March),(PhalgunPurnima),whichusuallyfallsin
March, sometimesinlate February.
The festival hasmany purposes;mostprominently,itcelebratesthe beginningof Spring.In17th century
literature,itwasidentifiedasafestival thatcelebratedagriculture,commemoratedgoodspringharvests
and the fertile land. Hindusbelieveitisa time of enjoyingspring'sabundantcoloursandsayingfarewell
to winter.Holi festivitiesmarkthe beginningof new yeartomany Hindus,aswell asa justificationto
resetandrenewrupturedrelationships,endconflictsandaccumulatedemotionalimpuritiesfrompast.
Holi'comesfrom the word'hola',meaningto offeroblationorprayertothe AlmightyasThanksgiving
for goodharvest.Holi iscelebratedeveryyeartoremindpeople thatthose wholove Godshall be saved
and theywhotorture the devotee of Godshall be reducedtoashesa la the mythical character Holika.
Hiranyakashipuwasakingin ancientIndiawhowaslike ademon.He wantedto take revenge forthe
deathof hisyoungerbrotherwhowaskilledbyLordVishnu.Sotogainpower,the kingprayedforyears.
He wasfinallygrantedaboon.But withthisHiranyakashipustartedconsideringhimself Godandasked
hispeople toworshiphimlike God.The cruel kinghasa youngson namedPrahalad,whowasa great
devotee of LordVishnu.Prahaladhadneverobeyedhisfather’sorderandkeptonworshipingLord
Vishnu.The Kingwassohard heartedanddecidedtokill hisownson,because he refusedtoworship
him.He askedhissister‘Holika’,whowasimmunetofire,tositon a pyre of fire withPrahaladinherlap.
Theirplanwas to burnPrahalad.But theirplandidnotgo throughas Prahaladwhowasrecitingthe
name of Lord Vishnuthroughoutwassafe,butHolikagotburntto ashes.The defeatof Holikasignifies
the burningof all that is bad.Afterthis,Lord VishnukilledHiranyakashipu.Butitisactuallythe deathof
Holikathat isassociatedwithHoli.Because of this,insome statesof Indialike Bihar,a pyre inthe form
of bonfire islitonthe daybefore Holi dayto rememberthe deathof evil.
But howdidcolors become partof Holi?Thisdatesback to the periodof LordKrishna(reincarnationof
Lord Vishnu.It isbelievedthatLordKrishnausedto celebrate holi withcolorsandhence popularized
the same.He usedto playholi withhisfriendsatVrindavanandGokul.Theyusedtoplaypranksall
across the village andthusmade thisa communityevent.Thatiswhytill date Holi celebrationsat
Vrindavanare unmatched.
Holi isa springfestival tosaygoodbye towinters.Insome partsthe celebrationsare alsoassociatedwith
springharvest.Farmersafterseeingtheirstoresbeingrefilledwithnew cropscelebrateHoli asa part of
theirhappiness.Becauseof this,Holi isalsoknownas‘VasantMahotsava’and ‘KamaMahotsava’.
Holi isan ancientfestival

2. Earlier,Holi colorsusedtobe made fromflowersof ‘tesu’or‘palash’tree andknownasgulal.The colors
usedto be verygoodfor skinas no chemicalswere usedtomake these.Butamidstof all definitionsof
festivals,the definitionof colorsforsure have changedwithtime.Todaypeoplehave startedusing
harsh colorsmade fromchemicals.Evenfastcolorsare usedtoplayHoli,whichare badand that iswhy
manypeople avoidcelebratingthisfestival.We shouldenjoythisage oldfestival withthe true spiritof
festivity.
Holi celebrations
Also,Holi isnota one dayfestival ascelebratedinmostof the statesinIndia,butit iscelebratedfor
three days.
On full moonday(Holi Purnima) coloredpowderandwaterare arrangedinsmall brass potson a thali.
The celebrationbeginswiththe eldestmale memberwhosprinklescoloronthe membersof hisfamily.
This isalsoknownas ‘Puno’.Onthisday Holika’simagesare burntandpeople evenlightbonfiresto
rememberthe storyof HolikaandPrahalad.Motherswith theirbabiestake five roundsof the bon- fire
ina clockwise directiontoseekthe blessingof the Godof fire.
This dayis knownas‘Parva’and thisis the lastand final dayof Holi celebrations.Onthisdaycolored
powderandwateris pouredoneach other.The deitiesof RadhaandKrishnaare worshippedand
smearedwithcolors.