Holi – the festival of colours

Holi, widely known as the Hindu festival of colours, is a joyful annual celebration at the advent of spring, with cultural and religious significance.

Typically observed in March in India, Nepal, other South Asian countries and across the diaspora, the festival celebrates love and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation – a time to embrace the positive and let go of negative energy.

For one of Holi’s most well-known traditions, celebrants clad in all-white, come out to the streets and throw coloured powders at each other, leaving behind a kaleidoscope of pigments and joy. Festivities with music, dancing and food ensue.

WHEN IS HOLI CELEBRATED?

Holi is celebrated at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, on the last full-moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month of Phalgun (12th lunar month in Hindu calendar). The date of the festival varies, depending on the lunar cycle. Typically, it falls in March, and will be celebrated this year on March 25.

SOME OF THE STORIES ASSOCIATED WITH HOLI

The holiday has its origins in Hindu mythology and lore.

In one origin story, the king, Hiranyakashipu, ordered everyone in his kingdom to worship him and was irked when his own son Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, disobeyed his command. So, he ordered his sister Holika, who was immune from fire, to take the child, Prahlad, into a bonfire, while holding him in her lap. However, when the pyre was lit, the boy’s devotion to Lord Vishnu protected him and left him unscathed while Holika, despite her immunity, burned to death.

Some also consider Holi a reference to Lord Krishna and his love for his beloved, Radha, and his cosmic play with his consorts and devotees called gopikas, who are also revered for their unconditional love and devotion to Krishna.

HOW IS THE FESTIVAL OF COLOURS CELEBRATED?

In many parts of India, people light large bonfires the night before the festival, to signify the destruction of evil and victory of good.

On the day of Holi, entire streets and towns are filled with people who throw coloured powder in the air. Some fling balloons filled with coloured water from rooftops and others use squirt guns. For one day, it’s all fair game. Cries of Holi hai! which means “It’s Holi!” can be heard on the streets. Holi has also been romanticised and popularised over the decades in Bollywood films.

The colours seen during Holi symbolise different things. Blue represents the colour of Lord Krishna’s skin while green symbolises spring and rebirth. Red symbolises marriage or fertility while both red and yellow, commonly used in rituals and ceremony, symbolise auspiciousness.

An array of special foods is part of the celebration, with the most popular food during Holi being gujia, a flaky, deep-fried sweet pastry stuffed with milk curd, nuts and dried fruits. Holi parties also feature thandai, a cold drink prepared with a mix of almonds, fennel seeds, rose petals, poppy seeds, saffron, milk and sugar.

HOW IS HOLI CELEBRATED IN THE DIASPORA?

In North America and in any country with a Hindu population, people of Indian descent celebrate Holi with Bollywood parties and parades, as well as a host of public and private gatherings. It is also common for Hindu temples and community centres to organise cultural programmes, friendly cricket matches, and other festivities, around the holiday.

Associated Press