Holi is one of the popular ancient festivals of the Hindu community that has originated from the Indian subcontinent. Usually, people of India and Nepal celebrate it. But, it also has spread all over Asia and in many Western countries.
People of India consider Holi as the festival of spring, colors, and love. It’s because the festival is a sign of coming of spring, winter’s end, and flourishing of love. This is also the time for many people to meet each other, laugh and play some unique types of games.
Beyond the colors and enjoyment, it’s also a great time to repair all of the broken relationships. The festival celebrates at the beginning of spring when it’s the season of harvest. Thus, many things are out there to know about the Holi festival in India, let’s know them below.
Table of Contents
When It Celebrates
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As you already know a bit about the Holi festival, it starts in early spring. It goes on continuing for a whole day with night, but it starts in the evening when it’s a full moon (the Purnima). the festival celebrates according to the calendar of the Vikram Samvat while it’s the middle of March.
Also, it celebrates in the month of Phalgun according to the Hindu calendar. When it’s the first evening, people celebrate it as a time of burning a demon named Holika or Chhoti Holi. And the next day of the Holi celebrates as Rangoli Holi, Dhulandi, Dhuleti, or Phagwah. Among the celebrations along with the country, usually, the biggest one is at Mathura & Vrindavan. This is the place said that the Hindu Lord Krishna has grown in his early life.
Because lots of people visit the locations at the same time, it might be a bit challenging for a single traveler. That means it’s best to go with a group tour under a guide. fAlso, the celebrations happen all over the country from Kolkata to Kerala, but it has more exuberant in some specific areas. If you’re a foreign tourist, you can visit Rajasthan, which is a very famous Holi destination. Exactly places like Jaipur and Pushkar are the most attractive in this festival.
How It Celebrates
The major attraction of the day is playing with color while smearing it to the face of everybody. People also throw the colorful water to each other along with dancing and partying underwater sprinkles. Consuming bhang that comes from cannabis is a great part of this popular festival.
If you like to see the special Holi celebrations with music, colors, and rain dances, you need to visit some biggest cities in India. These include Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, and some others. You can be a part of the family celebration of Holi with local in Jaipur and Delhi that’s simply a great option.
Rituals It Performs
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The most important part of the event is burning a demon, Holika. When it’s the time of Holi, people make large bonfires to make the event memorable. This ritual is well-known as Holika Dahan where conducts special worship as well. In the worship, people dance and sing around the burning fire and make around three times.
The most interesting thing is that in some parts of the country people walk on the hot blazing coals. This firewalking is a part of their worship and they think it as sacred. If you’re very interested to see the event of fire walking, visit the Saras village at Surat in Gujarat.
A Hindu priest at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh says that his village locates at the place where the Holika took place. In this place, many local priests are walking on the burning coal on barefoot for years to centuries. Because of thinking they have got the blessing from God, they don’t get hurt in this dangerous ritual.
What You Can Expect From The Event
If you’re a type of person that doesn’t mind being wet plus dirty with color and water then Holi is the perfect event for you. This is the event where you’ll be entirely flooded in colorful water all across your clothes and body.
It’s a good idea to wear old clothing as some of the color stains are tough to remove from clothes. Also, we recommend you to rub coconut or hair oil on your body beforehand. This is a great way to protect your body from the absorption of color.
Declaration Of Love
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Many lovers wait for this time to declare their love for someone special using color and colorful water. It also has a famous story behind this part of the Holi where it has said that it has the relation to the love affair of Lord Krishna and Radha. Krishna introduced the trend of sporting this colorful game.
It’s because he used color on Radha, his beloved person, to alter her like him. This trend gained very popularity soon among the people while they also start doing it for their loving person. But, it’s nothing surprising that no matches have found to this event of Mathura, Banaras, and Vrindavan so far.
Sober Evening
When you end up an excited and funfilled day, the evening is the time to spend with meeting relatives and friends while exchanging greeting and sweets. This is the real spirit of the event of Holi that encourages feeling the brotherhood across the societies.
It teaches you to make friends with your enemies at the event of the day. The participation of all communities’ people makes the celebration more joyous. It also strengthens the nation’s secular fabric irrespective of race and religion.
Conclusion
The Holi festival in India is one of the major events that celebrate all over the country. It also observes with gaiety and enthusiasm when it’s the full moon.
The festival has different names in different states and different traditions as well. But, the colorful day of the year is a much memorable time for the people of all age groups.