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The festival of colours Holi is almost here. The festival is celebrated all across India with utmost enthusiasm and love. Colored powders, music, and minor water canons are a massive part of this festival that adds more fun to it. Regardless of age, the festival is celebrated in the most playful manner, smearing color powders on each other, splashing with a water canon, and playing with water balloons is a must on this day. And that is not the only fun part about the Holi festival the tales behind this festival are even more enjoyable. Continue reading to know more about stories related to Holika Dahan and Holi.
The Story of Holika and Prahlad – Story Behind Holika Dahan
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According to mythology, Holi is celebrated to commemorate the story of Prahlad and Hiranyakashyap. The latter was a demon king who received a boon from Lord Vishnu that he could never be killed by a human or an animal, at any time of day or night, inside or outside, on the ground or above. In his arrogance, Hiranyakashyap declared that only he should be worshipped, not God. On the other hand, his own son Prahlad was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Prahlad’s devotion infuriated the demon king. In his rage, he ordered Prahlad to jump off a mountain, which he did while chanting the name of Lord Vishnu and escaped unharmed. Following this, Hiranyakashayp attempted to harm Prahlad by poisoning him, ordering wild elephants to trample him, and placing him in a room full of venomous and angry snakes. But all of his attempts were futile. Finally, he requested that his sister Holika sit on a pyre. Hollika sat beside Prahlad on the pyre. She wore a shawl that could not be burned, ensuring that only Prahlad was burned. However, It flew from her to Prahlad to protect him, while Holika was killed in the fire. Following this incident, Lord Vishnu appeared on Earth in a half-human, half-animal avatar and ripped apart Hiranyakashyap’s body on his porch steps at dusk. People perform Hollika Dahan (Burning) a day before Holi. Hollika) by lighting a bonfire in the belief that it would burn bad energy. Every year, we celebrate the Holi festival to commemorate the triumph of good over evil.
Also Read: Holi Traditions Around the World
The Story of Radha and Krishna – The Festival of Colours
The story of devotion and love between Radha and Krishna is known to all who have any idea about Hindu Mythology. Krishna is the god of compassion and love. When he was a child, many attempts were made by his maternal uncle to kill him. He once sent a demon to poison Krishna’s milk, after the demon did so, Krishna drank the milk and remained unharmed but an unintended effect turned his skin colour to a dark bluish shade. Krishna was conscious of this skin colour because he was deeply in love with fair-skinned Radha and he shared his concern with his mother Yashodha who simply advised him to respectfully smear whatever colour he pleases on Radha. Krishna took this advice at face value and while professing his love to Radha he playfully smeared colour powders on Radha to make her skin like his. Finally, Radha accepted and confessed her feeling of love for Krishna. And to celebrate this love story people play with colours on the day of the Holi festival.
Also Read: Ideas of Art and Craft for Holi
The Story of Kamadeva – The Story of Love and Sacrifice
According to Hindu mythology, after a few series of events in history, Lord Shiva lost his wife Sati which caused him extreme distress and he sought solace in deep meditation. And no one would dare to interrupt him from his meditation this resulted in him to devoid of world affairs which took a toll on everyone. After a few years, Sati was reincarnated as Parvati and as a solution to worldly problems and to bring back normalcy she had to win Lord Shiva’s heart but her attempts were futile, exhausted from these attempts she asked Kamadev to help her. Despite knowing the consequences, Kamadeva shot his arrow of love into Shiva’s heart, awakening him from his meditation. This angered Lord Shiva and in his fury he incarcerated Kamadveva. However, the arrow of love hit Lord Shiva right and he was brought back to the affairs of the world and married the goddess Parvati. Later, Kamadeva’s wife Rati pleaded to Shiva and explained to him that all of this was God’s plan and Kamadeva was actually an embodiment of love for him and Parvati. It is believed that the day Shiva incarcerated Kamadev was the day of Holi. Thus, in Southern India, people worship Kamadeva for his sacrifice on the day of Holi.
Also Read: Holi Home Decoration Ideas
The Killing of Pootna – End of Winters and Darkness
Kansa was Krishna’s maternal uncle who wished to kill him. Kansa sought help from an ogress, Pootna, and ordered her to kill Krishna. She visited the village where Krishna was residing. One day she visited his house and made an attempt to kill him while feeding him milk with poisonous breasts. Krishna prayed to Lord Shiva to reside in his throat. Lord Shiva did the same and drank all the poison from it saving Krishna. Krishna sucked the blood out of the ogress, putting her to death. It is believed that Pootna was killed a night before Holi and the beginning of the spring season. People believed that the death of Pootna symbolized the end of winters and dark energy and they burned an effigy of Pootna a night before Holi to celebrate the victory of good over evil and the ending of winters and darkness.
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FAQs
Ans. Holi festival is celebrated to welcome the season of spring and bid farewell to the chilla of winter. As per the mythological belief, the festival of Holi is celebrated to commemorate the tale of Prahlad and Hiranyakashyap and to remember this triumph of good over evil.
Ans. The following are the popular tales of Holi:
The story of Holika and Prahlad
The story of Radha and Krishna
The story of Kamadeva
The killing of Pootna
Ans. Hiranyakashyap requested that his sister Holika sit on a pyre. Holika sat beside Prahlad on the pyre wearing a shawl that could not be burned, ensuring that only Prahlad was burned. However, the shawl flew from her to Prahlad to protect him, while Holika was killed in the fire.
Well, that was all from us on the delightful festival of Holi. And we advise you to be cautious against synthetic colors and playing with water balloons or wasting water unnecessarily. Play a safe Holi with your friends and family. For more such trending events, keep reading our important days blogs on Leverage Edu to stay informed about the news and important dates in the world of education!