Holi 2023: Legendary Tales Around The Colourful Holi Festival

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While Diwali is called the festival of lights, Holi is termed as the festival of colours, and as Holi arrives on Wednesday, 08 March 2023, the festival rituals and celebrations are reminiscent of Krishna and Radha's times which spelled eternal love and also the triumph of good over evil.

People hold two day celebratios for Holi, the first day of Jalanwali Holi ( chhoti Holi or Holika Dahan) where the bonfire is lit and the second day of Rangwali Holi ( Dhulandi or Dhulendi )when people have a gala time, splashing colours on each other. The first day of Holi is Chhoti Holi and Holika dahan. There are some interesting fables that have been woven around the celebration of Holi. These legendary tales give us a clearer understanding of the purpose and ritual of Holi. In Bihar and UP, 'Holika dahan' is also referred to as 'Samvatsar Dahan'.

Legendary Tale Of Krishna And Radha

The idea of popularizing Holi is credited to Lord Krishna which simply reminds one about his childhood. He would drench the Gopikas during spring time with water and Gopis would tolerate it all for the love of Krishna. It assumed a specific format and shape as Krishna entered adulthood. Holi leelas of Krishna and Gopis can be seen in ancient paintings and murals.

Legendary Story Of Demon King HiranyaKashipu

There is a demon king Hiranyakashipu who is also known to have inspired Holi celebrations. He wanted to kill Lord Vishnu as Vishnu had killed his demon brother. When he could not do anything about it, he performed tapashcharya or penance for years together and finally received a boon from Brahma. The thought that he had become invincible, filled the demon with arrogance and he ordered all gods to worship him instead of Lord Vishnu.

His young son Prahlad was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu and hence he did not listen to his father's commands. Prahlad survived many attempts done on his life, by King Hiranyakashipu. His sister Holika had an immunity to fire and hence he ordered her to place Prahlad on her lap and enter the fire. Finally, it was Holika who got burnt and Prahlad emerged unscathed. Prahlads total surrender to god saved him. It is through the evil Holika that the Holi originated. Even today the bonfire is lit in order to celebrate the burning of Holika who represented the failure of evil over the good.

Legendary Tale Of Kamadeva Who Was Burnt And Later Revived

Another Holi legend, revolves around Lord Shiva and Kaamadeva (God of lust) who was reduced to ashes dn Lord Shiva in order to get him interested in Parvati. Rati was on the brink of collapse and inconsolable over her husband's death and hence Lord Shiva revived Kama only as an image without a form which stood as a representation of true love than the lustful love. Holi bonfire is lit to celebrate this event in Southern Indian regions.

Legendary story Of The Demoness Dhundhi Who Devoured Children

Another popular tale centres around the Demoness Dhundhi who devoured children in the Kingdom of Raghu. But she was cursed by Lord Shiva that she would be chased away and killed by a set of wild young pranksters. She was chased finally by some children who played pranks over her and hence rowdy behavior by children is acceptable only for this day.. She was ultimately chased away by the children's pranks on Holi.