Parrot Time Magazine

The Thinking of Speaking
Issue #3 May / June 2013
Celebrations
Holi

Holi

by Sonja Krüger
May / June 2013 |  asd

Every spring, most parts of India have a celebration to mark the end of winter called Holi (pronounced the same as English "holy"). It normally lasts two days and while it is celebrated slightly differently, according to region, the main festival involves lighting bonfires, eating rich food, and coating other people in coloured powder and liquids. During this time, the normal societal strictness is relaxed, allowing people of all age, gender, status and caste to come together in a time of excitement and fun. This year, Holi will start on Wednesday, the 27th of March and will continue for 2 days until Thursday, the 28th.

Legends

The celebration is attributed mainly to a legend about a king of demons named Hiranyakashipu. The Demon King had been granted a boon (favor or blessing) by Brahma, making him almost impossible to kill. With this power, he became arrogant, attacking both the Heavens and the Earth, demanding that people stop worshipping the Gods and praise only him instead.


A rajah and his wife celebrating holi

However, his own son, Prahlad, disobeyed him, and continued his devotion and prayers to Lord Vishnu. This infuriated Hiranyakashipu, so he tried many times to kill his son for his insolence. Each attempt was foiled by Lord Vishnu. Finally, the Demon King turned to his Demoness sister, Holika. She had also been granted a boon which made it impossible for her to be burned by fire. Hiranyakashipu ordered Prahlad to sit on the lap of Holika while she sat on a burning pyre. Prahlad obeyed his father, but also prayed to Lord Vishnu to protect him from the fire. When the pyre was lit, it was Holika that burned instead, while Prahlad was unharmed. The boon only worked when Holika entered fire on her own. This miracle of Prahlad surviving while Holika burned is celebrated as Holi, being seen as a triumph of good over evil as well as devotion to god. Specifically, bonfires are lit on the eve of the festival, which is called Holika Dahan (burning of Holika).

Another legend associated with Holi is the story of Dhundhi. She was an evil ogress who used to trouble the children of the kingdom of Prithu. She had a boon on her that made her almost invincible. However, she was also cursed by Lord Shiva, making her vulnerable to shouts and pranks by children, which eventually allowed the children she tormented to drive her away. For this reason, children play pranks during the time of Holika Dahan.

A third legend is one of love. Young Lord Krishna, who was dark of skin, was confused by how fair skinned his beloved Radha was, so his mother, Yashoda, told him to apply colour to her face. The mischievous young Krishna did just that, throwing coloured powder on her as well as others. This became a tradition among the young which eventually spread to everyone. This aspect of the celebration gives Holi the name Festival of Colours.

Historical References

Some of the oldest depictions of Holi celebrations go back to the 16th century. A panel from that time in a temple in Hampi has a scene showing a prince and princess among maids who have large pichkaris (water pumps) full of water to soak the royal couple. A Mewar painting from around 1755 depicts the Maharana giving gifts to some people while a dance is happening. In the center of the scene is a tank full of coloured water.



Holi Preparations


The coloured powder of Holi is called called gulal. In the days before Holi, merchants put out many bowls of gulal and abeer (or aabir - small crystals that are added to the gulal to make it sparkle) in many bright colours in preparation for the celebration. These powders will also be mixed with water which can be sprayed on people using hand pumps called pichkaris or used to fill water balloons which will be thrown. In medieval times, these powders were made by drying tesu flowers, which were bright red or deep orange coloured, then grinding them to dust. Today, the colour added to the powder is chemical based.

The pichkaris, which have been used since the sixteenth century, constantly come out in new styles to attract children, and many of them even become collectibles. Traditional ones looked like large syringes, but now they can be almost anything, from modern squirt guns to toy figures and come in all different sizes.

Women also spend much of the time before the festival preparing various traditional foods, like gujiya (a sweet dumpling made with wheat flour and stuffed with khoya, a thick milk food), mathri (a kind of flaky biscuits), papri (crisp fried dough wafers), papads (thin, crisp crackers) and pakoras (fried snacks, like fritters). These are consumed along with large amounts of the intoxicating bhang, which is a preparation from the leaves and flowers cannabis plant, and thandai (a cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, magaztari seeds).


Mathri

Papads

Papri

Celebration

The way Holi is celebrated, as well as the duration, varies by region all over India. A primary part of it is the lighting of bonfires the night before the festival, which is always on a full moon, on many street corners. This is often called Holi Paurnima ("Holi Full Moon") and is done as a celebration of the burning of Holika as well as a means of cleansing the air of evil spirits. The next day, all shops and offices are closed. Everyone comes out of their homes and into the streets, dressed in white. During this time is the wild celebration as people run around throwing coloured powder and squirting coloured water at each other. Water balloons filled with coloured water may also be used. Some people form groups called tolis and move around more slowly, spreading colours and greeting others. There is also singing and dancing among the activities and eating of many sweet foods. This goes on for a few hours before everyone finally goes to the river or baths to wash themselves before relaxing for the afternoon. In most areas, Holi lasts about two days.


Bonfire on Holi Dahan

Many regions bring in their own ways of celebrating, extending the holiday, and even giving it other names. In Gujurat, for example another tradition is to hang a pot of buttermilk high above the street. Young boys form human pyramids in attempts to reach and break it while girls try to stop them by throwing coloured water at them. The young boy that manages to break the pot is crowned the "Holi King". In some places, the women of the family will beat their brother-in-laws with their rolled up saris in mock anger while the brother-in-laws try to drench them with coloured water. In the evening, the brother-in-laws will bring them various treats.


Holi party in Delhi, with crowd and a tree decorated in coloured fabrics

The region of Uttar Pradesh has a number of variants. In Barsana, they have the "Lath mar Holi" ("that Holi in which people hit with sticks") before the regular Holi. For this, women chase away men and beat them with sticks while others watch, singing songs.

Kanpur extends Holi to seven days and is followed by a large fair called "Ganga Mela" to celebrate the freeing of Kanpur from British rule after the First Indian War of Independence in 1857. People from all castes, creeds, religion and societies join in. The Ganga Mela, which takes place a few days after Holi, marks an end to it with the washing in the river. On the eve of Ganga Mela, all government offices and shops remain closed so major business groups and politicians gather along the Ghats (steps that lead down to the water) of the River Ganga banks. The next few days are full of remembrance and worship along with various fun contests and selling of toys and other items at fair stalls.

The Kumaon region of Uttarakhand has a very unique form of Holi. Much of the celebration involves a great deal of singing songs based on classical ragas (melodic modes used in Indian classical music). The singers usually wear traditional white churidar pyjama and kurta while dancing in groups.


Braj Lath mar Holi in Barasana, India

In Bengal and Orissa, Holi is called Dol Purnima ("Swing Festival") and is dedicated more to Lord Krishna and Radha. On the Dol Purnima day in the early morning, the students dress up in the early morning in saffron-coloured or pure white clothes, wearing garlands of flowers, and sing and dance to the accompaniment of traditional musical instruments like the ektara and veena. Icons of Krishna and Radha are places on a richly decorated swinging palanquin and taken round the main streets of the city. Women dance around the swing and sing devotional songs while men keep spraying them with coloured water and powder. In Orissa, however, icons of Jagannath, the deity of the Jagannath Temple of Puri, replace the icons of Krishna and Radha.

While Dol Purnima focuses more on the Krishna legend, Holi in Maharashtra is mainly associated with the burning of Holika. There, Holi Paurnima is also called as Shimga. A week before the festival, children go around the community, collecting firewood and money. The firewood is arranged in a large pile at on the day of Holi and is lit that evening. Each household then makes an offering of a meal and dessert to the fire god. Shimga is about the elimination of all evil. Unlike the Holi festivals of the north, the colour celebrations here normally take place on the day of Rangapanchami, which is five days after Holi. The festival is supposed to help people forget about rivalries and to start new, healthy relations with others.


Man playing an Ektara

In Manipur, Holi is celebrated for six days and is merged with the centuries-old festival of Yaosang. The festival starts with the burning of a thatched hut of hay and twigs while young children go around to the houses collecting money, known as nakadeng (or nakatheng), as gifts on the first two days. At night, youths perform a group folk dance, the Thabal Chongba, on the full moon night along with folk songs and rhythmic beats. Similar performances are done in the Krishna temples, in which devotees sing devotional songs and perform dances while wearing traditional white and yellow turbans.

No matter what it's called or how it's celebrated, Holi is mainly a celebration of renewal. It is the time to start the new year, drive away bad feelings, and to celebrate with everyone around you. Formalities and inhibitions are dropped and a spirit of joy and love is spread throughout the community. The Festival of colour is truly a wonderful tradition for the entire country.

Vocabulary
Holika Dahan - Burning of Holi
Holi Paurnima - Holi Full Moon
pichkaris - hand-pumps
nakadeng - collected money
ghats - steps that lead down to the water
tolis - group of people that travel around together
ragas - melodic modes used in Indian classical music
gulal - coloured powder
abeer - small crystals added to gulal to make it sparkle
churidar pyjamas - tightly fitting trousers worn by both men and women
kurta - a loose shirt falling to the knees of the wearer, normally worn by men
ektara - one-string instrument most often used in traditional music
veena - a generic name for a string instrument


Other scenes of Holi: Shop selling colours for Holi, Old Delhi; Women preparing the Holika Dahan bonfire at Thapathali, Kathmandu. Nepal; Holi celebrations, Pushkar, Rajasthan; Girl in Holi colours.


Celebrations - Holi
Writer: Sonja Krüger
Images:
Diganta Talukdar: Holi celebration at Nagaon (title)
FaceMePLS: Holi Feest 2008
Ronaldo Lazzari: Bonfire on Holi Dahan
Karen Sandhu: Holi party in Delhi, with crowd and a tree decorated in coloured fabrics
gkrishna38: Braj Lath mar Holi at Barasana, India
Biswarup Ganguly: Holi Colors at a street shop at Deanesh Skeikh lane, Howrah
Charles Haynes: Papads; Papri Chaat
Md. Saiful Aziz Shamseer: Man playing Ektara
Eliza Raschke: Shop selling colours for Holi, Old Delhi
wonker: Women preparing the Holika Dahan bonfire at Thapathali, Kathmandu. Nepal
judepics: Holi celebrations, Pushkar, Rajasthan
Chris Willis: Girl in colors
Ingo Mehling: Holi Bonfire in front of Jagdish Temple / Udaipur (flash page)
Petey: A rajah and his wife celebrating holi; Mathri
Sources:
• "Holi" Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi>
• "Holi Festival" Holifestival.org <http://www.holifestival.org/holi-festival.html>
• "Hinduism" About.com <http://hinduism.about.com/od/holifestivalofcolors/a/holybasics.htm>
• "Holi - the festival of colours" Indiaexpress.com <http://www.indiaexpress.com/rangoli/holi.html>
• "Indian Holidays : Holi" Calendarlabs <http://www.calendarlabs.com/holidays/india/holi.php>

All images are Copyright - CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Share Alike) by their respective owners, except for Petey, which is Public Domain (PD) or unless otherwise noted.

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