The festival of colors—the Holi festival—is celebrated in each and every part of the country. Though it is not the tradition that is followed by a few of them, people tend to celebrate it because it is a colorful game and throwing Holi colors to family, friends, and even sometimes strangers is fun, and you get this opportunity only once a year! The colorful Holi festival is also known as Holika Dahan, Kama Dahanam, and, in some parts, Rang Panchami. Many of us are not aware of the history or the main reason why we do the Holy Celebration!
Let’s have some insight on this before we jump to the current celebration mood. In ancient days, people had the belief that burning off all the wood and combustible materials in a bonfire was a sacred ritual, and they also symbolized it as the victory of good over evil. And on top of that pyre, they would place an effigy to signify Holika, who tricked Prahalad into the fire. And after this event, they would have all the delicacies, such as gujiya, mathri, malpuas, etc. Most probably, at or after sunset on the eve of Holi, the pyre is lit in honor of Holika Dahan. In south India, there is a tradition to worship and make offerings to Kamadeva, the love god of Indian mythology.
Holi is all about freeing our inhibitions and feeling love. Each and every color has a unique emotion and manifests the spirit of the festival. Great food with food stalls or food truck and awesome DJ sound music adds a ton of energy and vigor to the event.
• In Gujarat, it is celebrated for two days: on the first day, they offer raw coconut and corn to the fire, and on the second day, they celebrate Dhuleti by sprinkling colored water and applying colors to each other.
• In Uttar Pradesh, there is a place called Mathura, which is the birthplace of Lord Krishna. People in this region celebrate it as the Lath Mar Holi festival in the holy compound of Radha Rani temple. This tradition is actually very different; women beat up the men with sticks while the men have to protect themselves with the shields, which is actually fun.
• Kumauni Holi in Uttarakhand is a pure musical affair. They celebrate it in different forms, like the Baithki Holi, the Khari Holi, and the Mahila Holi. People sing songs with a touch of spiritualism, melody, and fun. These songs are essentially based on classical ragas. And the colors that they use to splash on each other are also the extracts of flowers, ash, and water.
• Holi is known as Phaguwa in Bihar. Even here, they follow the legend of Holika and then smear each other with the color as an indication of greeting.
• In Karnataka, on Kamadahana night, all the wood is put together and burned together, and they also prepare delicious food on this eve. In some parts, they also perform this folk dance called Bedara Vesha, which is actually performed during the night five days before the actual day.
The list of ways to explain the various innovative and creative ways of celebrating Holi is never-ending. The ultimate overall agenda is to enjoy and play with colors, apart from the traditions and customs that people follow as instructed by elders or panditji. And now, let’s come to the present-day celebration. In this techie world, attending the Holi celebration is a fantasy for the young generation. There are so many events, like open-air parties, pool parties, live dhol, rain dances, etc., where you just have to pay and the rest is taken care of by the event planners. When spring is in the air, colors cannot be left behind!!! Holi is just about to hit the date, and if you are not yet set to have a colorful one, you are just wasting this year. So, never fail to have a cheerful Holi holiday this year! Let’s all have a bright and colorful life, and the Holi celebration is just exactly signifying this thought! Checkout PartyOne blog for more creative ideas!