HOLI
18th March 2003
The Indian
sky is changing - the March winds are coming in and winter begins to bow out.
Holi is the festival that carries the country into the bright days of summer.
A feeling of plenty is in the air - the crops have been cut, threshed and stored
or sold. The farmer is at rest and money is at hand. 'Holi' falls on the full
moon, in the month of Phalgun, which spans the end of Februry and the beginning
of March on the Gregorian calendar. A time when Spring is in the air.
The legend of King Hiranyakashipu is associated with
the festival of Holi. This legend signifies the victory of good over evil, of
devotion surpassing ambition. King Hiranyakashipu was an ambitious ruler, one
who wanted absolute power so that he would be worshipped as God. When this wish
was made known, the King's own son, Prahlad, refused to obey his father. Prahlad
was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, and it was only to his Lord that he gave
allegiance. The proud King was enraged by Prahlad's disobedience and decided to
punish him severely. He asked his sister Holika for help. It was believed that
Holika was immune to fire and would never be burnt, so the King asked Holika to
sit in the centre of a bonfire with Prahlad on her lap, so that the fire could
devour him. The bonfire was lit, and young Prahlad sat in Holika's lap, in its
centre, praying to Lord Vishnu. His devotion saved him, leaving him untouched
by the flames, but Holika was burnt to ashes. To mark this legend, huge bonfires
are lit on the eve of Holi, especially in Bihar and the North.
Vrindavan and Lord Krishna's legend of courting Radha
and playing pranks on the Gopis are also the essence of Holi. In Hindu mythology,
Lord Krishna in his youth has been idealised as a lover and it is the spirit of
his lighthearted, mischievous passion of courtship that enters the spring festival
of Holi. Krishna and Radha are depicted celebrating Holi in the Hamlet of Gokul,
Barsana and Vrindavan, bringing them alive with mischief and youthful pranks.
Holi was Krishna and Radha's celebration of love-a
teasing, affectionate panorama of feeling and colour. These scenes have been captured
and immortalised in the songs of Holi. The festival that is also the harbinger
of the light, warm, beautiful days of Spring.