Holi
Holi is one of the major festivals of Hindus. It is celebrated in South Asian countries, especially in India and Nepal. Hiranyanaksap wanted to kill his son, so he called his sister, Holika. She had a magic robe. This robe had the power to save the wearer from burning in fire. Hiranyakashyap ordered his sister to sit on a burning fire along with Prahlad. He thought that his sister would not be harmed by the fire of the magic robe and Prahlad would be burnt to death. But the result was the opposite of what the evil demon king planned.
Thus Prahlad came out of the burning fire safely and Holika was burnt to death. Holi is the festival of colours. It is celebrated with colors to mark the victory of virtue and goodness over evil.
The festival is celebrated for two days. The 2nd day, Rang Panchami marks the closing day of the Holi festival.
People are seen with different varieties of colors on Holi. They put colors on each other, sing, dance. They worship Lord Krishna and put colors on his idol.
Families gather together and Parvi the whole day...
References Happy Holi colors
Holi Media
Radha Krishna playing Holi
An 1822 drawing showing elevation of a black stone arch in Puri, Odisha. It carried Vaishnavite gods and goddess, the ritual noted to be a part of the Holi festival.
Faces Smeared with Holi Colours
Flowers of Dhak or Palash are used to make traditional colours.
Colours for Holi on sale at a market in Mysore
The Holi Festival in March 2013 at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Utah County, Utah.
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Other websites
- Holi at Curlie
- How to practice safe Holi Archived 2017-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, Government of India
- Holi in pictures from The Guardian