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Spring
decks the world in colours and Holi - the festival of colours is
celebrated in India when spring is in full bloom. Holi
generally falls on the full moon during March. It is a
festival of love and unity, celebrating the triumph of good over
evil.
Holi is mentioned in very ancient Indian texts proving that the
festival existed several centuries before the birth of Christ.
It’s mythological origin can be traced to the immolation of the
evil demon Holika. Etymologically Holi means “burning” in
Sanskrit. It was on this day that Holika, the sister of the
demon king Hiranyakasipu, who tried to kill the god fearing Prahlada
by taking him on her lap and sitting on a pyre of wood which was set
on fire was reduced to ashes while Prahlada was unharmed.
Prahlada was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu’s incarnation
Krishna was later supposed to have popularized the festival.
Krishna, as a lad would jovially sprinkle colours on his childhood
sweethearts and village folk during Spring.
Holi is more or less free from rituals. It’s mostly fun and
games, the key word being - COLOUR. The vibrant colours of
spring is the catalyst to humans adorning themselves and others in
various hues. Vendors are seen on the sidewalk selling
coloured powder beautifully heaped in gunny bags, water colours and
pichkari (syringes to spray coloured water). Abeer or gulal
are the dry colours. Gulal is made up of various colours like
pink, magenta, red, yellow and green. Abeer comprises of small
crystals or paper like chips of mica. Tesu, the Palash flower
and the “flame of the forest”, is dried and sold in the
market. Tesu on mixed with water gives rise to a saffron red
colour.
Holi though mainly a festival of gaiety has a serious side to
it. It is a time of spring cleaning, a time of
rejuvenation. Bonfires fed by twigs and allied combustible
material are lit of cross roads, the warmth of which symbolically
assures all that chilly winter days are over and warm days are to
come. Sometimes a Holika image made of combustible material
and Prahlada image made of non-combustible material is placed on the
fire and a hymn is chanted to ward off evil spirits.
In streets there may be joyous processions. Very often human
pyramids are seen. The person on top is supposed to break a
jug of buttered milk. Lord Krishna and his friends used to
drop in stealthily at neighbour’s homes and drink the milk hung in
jars from the ceiling. This scene is re-enacted every
year. In north-eastern provinces of India folk songs are sung
on moonlit Holi nights with the accompaniment of drums. In the
countryside the farmer and his wife also have their dose of fun on
Holi, the harvest is just over, and it is during this time that the
villagers have plenty of time and money at their disposal.
Rabindranath Tagore, the Noble laureate from India, renamed Holi
Vasanta Utsava - the Spring Festival. Viswabharati University,
an educational institute founded by Tagore celebrates Holi every
year through choreography, songs and dances by eminent
artists. All hotels in Shantiniketan are booked during Holi
time by both Indian and foreign tourists.
In traditional Hindu joint families new sarees (garments) are bought
for the married women. All family members gather to perform
the formal sprinkling of colour. Nephews and nieces may smear
the face of a new bride of the household with a gold and silver
paste. Younger members of the household touch the feet of
elders with reverence asking them for their blessings. People
also travel to the homes of friends and family with boxes of sweets
greeting them with the words “Holi Hai” - “Holi’s here”.
Holi’s a time to “eat, drink and be merry”. Both
vegetarian and non-vegetarian curries are served. Alcoholic
beverages are prepared. People may be seen getting tipsy on
Bhang, a mild narcotic drink which is legal in India.
Focusing on the main Holi game, let’s say that the ground rule is
that there are no rules. It’s not just a time to let the
hair down, it’s all just frenzied merriment. A water balloon
may burst against you unexpectedly. Or a bucket of coloured
water from a roof top may completely drench you. Sprays of
coloured powder will cloud the air. Security rules are however
being made more stringent nowadays, putting colours on strangers
disinclined to play is being fined, quite a fair law in my
opinion. After all there’ll never be any restriction for
family and friends to play Holi among themselves.
Everything isn’t over after the Holi game is over. Now it’s
time to scrub oneself clean with soap and water.
Holi has often been shown in popular Hindi Cinema. The most
famous Holi scenes are in the films Sholay, Silsila, Darr and Mother
India. In films Holi seems to be put through a kaleidoscope
multiplying the feast of colours through myriad dimensions alongwith
lively song and dance sequences.
Times are changing. City discs and pubs have Holi bashes
making grandparents reminiscence about the “good old days of their
childhood” when they would just get a bright new one rupee coin on
Holi Day from their parents. Puzzled they are indeed by their
grand children playing online Holi - sprinkling colour with the
mouse on the computer screen with pop up windows, logging into a
Holi chat room or playing “interactive” Holi with shock wave
flash. Well, times change ....... whether it’s for the “bad”
or “good” - but I believe that it’s still many years before
the spirit of Holi dies down. Holi will always bring a colour
to many an Indian household.
For a few days after Holi you may see passers-by with coloured faces
(the colours were so stubborn that even the best soap or cleanser
failed ), heaps of abeer of the grey roads or an erstwhile white car
looking rainbow coloured. One fine afternoon, a sudden spring
shower may wash away all colours and the everything will look as it
used to.
Our
thanks to Pallavi from India for this article.
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