It’s the month of March this month welcomes the occasion that brings in unadulterated joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colors! Yes its Holi which is regarded as one of the most ancient festival festivals of the Aryans who finds an hondored mention in our old Sanskrit texts like Dashakumar Charit and Garud Puran. Holi as a festival seems to have started several centuries before Christ as can be inferred from its mentions in the religious works of Jaimini's Purvamimamsa-Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutra. Even the play"Ratnavali" written by Harshdev states a delightful description of Holi as a festival. In those days this very festival was celebrated as "Vasantotsav". Latter everybody started calling it "MADANOTSAV". A 16th century panel sculpted in a temple at Hampi, capital of Vijayanagar, shows a joyous scene depicting Holi where a prince and his princess are standing amidst maids waiting with syringes to drench the royal couple in colored water. In Ahmednagar painting is on the theme of Vasanta Ragini - spring song or music. It shows a royal couple sitting on a grand swing, while maidens are playing music and spraying colors with pichkaris (hand-pumps). A Mewar painting (circa 1755) shows the Maharana with his courtiers. While the ruler is bestowing gifts on some people, a merry dance is on, and in the center is a tank filled with colored water. A Bundi miniature shows a king seated on a tusker, and from a balcony above some damsels are showering gulal (colored powders) on him.
Holi was earlier regarded as a festival to celebrate good harvests and fertility of the land. Like all Indian and Hindu festivals, Holi is inextricably linked to mythical tales. There are at least three legends that are directly associated with the festival of colors. According to the hindu calendar holi falls on a full moon day and in the month of Falgun. It is marked as a opening festival in hindu calendar after Holi there are various festival which follow it in the hindu tradition. Following are the legendary episodes which brought into the existence of Holi
· The Holika-Prahlad Episode: Holi is derived from the Holika, the sister of the mythical megalomaniac king Hiranyakashipu who commanded everyone to worship him. But his little son Prahlad refused to do so. Instead he became a devotee of Vishnu, the Hindu God.Hiranyakashipu ordered his sister Holika to kill Prahlad and she, possessing the power to walk through fire unharmed, picked up the child and walked into a fire with him. Prahlad, however, chanted the names of Vishnu and was saved from the fire. Holika perished because she did not know that her powers were only effective if she entered the fire alone.This myth has a strong association with the festival of Holi, and even today there is a practice of hurling cow dung into the fire and shouting obscenities at it, as if at Holika.
· The Story of Dhundhi: It seems on this day that an ogress called Dhundhi, who was troubling the children in the kingdom of Prthu was chased away by the shouts and pranks of village youngsters. Although this female monster had secured several boons that made her almost invincible, shouts, abuses and pranks of boys was a chink in the armor for Dhundi, owing to a curse from Lord Shiva.
· The Kamadeva Myth:It is often believed that it was on this day that Lord Shiva opened his third eye and incinerated Kamadeva, the god of love, to death. So, many people worship Kamadeva on Holi-day, with the simple offering of a mixture of mango blossoms and sandalwood paste.
· Radha-Krishna Legend:Holi is also celebrated in memory of the immortal love of Lord Krishna and Radha. The young Krishna would complain to his mother Yashoda about why Radha was so fair and he so dark. Yashoda advised him to apply colour on Radha's face and see how her complexion would change. In the legends of Krishna as a youth he is depicted playing all sorts of pranks with the gopis or cowgirls. One prank was to throw colored powder all over them. So at Holi, images of Krishna and his consort Radha are often carried through the streets. Holi is celebrated with eclat in the villages around Mathura, the birth-place of Krishna.
· Birthday of Shri Chaitanya MahaPrabhu
Holi Purnima is also celebrated as the birthday of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (A.D. 1486-1533), mostly in Bengal, and also in the coastal city of Puri, Orissa, and the holy cities of Mathura and Vrindavan, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
· Making the Colors of Holi
The colors of Holi, called 'gulal', in the medieval times were made at home, from the flowers of the 'tesu' or 'palash' tree, also called 'the flame of the forest'. These flowers, bright red or deep orange in color, were collected from the forest and spread out on mats, to dry in the sun, and then ground to fine dust. The powder when mixed with water made a beautiful saffron-red dye. This pigment and also 'aabir', made from natural colored talc, which were extensively used as Holi colors, are good for the skin
Day 1:[/b] Celebration of Holi festival is characterized by performing Holi puja as per Hindu tradition. The day of the full moon (Holi Purnima) is the first day of Holi. A platter ('thali') is arranged with colored powders, and colored water is placed in a small brass pot ('lota')In the evening is celebrated by lighting huge bonfires as part of the community celebration when people gather near the fire to fill the air with folk songs and dances. Mothers often carry their babies five times in a clockwise direction around the fire, so that her children are blessed by Agni, the god of fire.
Day2:[/b] The most boisterous and the second day of the festival is called 'Parva' or Dhuleti falls day after Holi Puja, is considered to be the actual festival of colors. On this day children, youth, men and women visit each other's homes and colored powders called 'aabir' and 'gulal' are thrown into the air and smeared on each other's faces and bodies. 'Pichkaris' and water balloons are filled with colors and spurted onto people - while young people pay their respects to elders by sprinkling some colors on their feet, some powder is also smeared on the faces of the deities, especially Krishna and Radha.
Previously on day two people used to come in drape in white and smear colour on each other irrespective of caste, color, race, sex, or social status; all these petty differences are temporarily relegated to the background and people give into an unalloyed colorful rebellion. Squirting colored water on passers-by, dunking friends in mud pool amidst teasing and laughter, getting intoxicated on bhaang and reveling with companions is perfectly acceptable. In fact, on the days of Holi, you can get away with almost anything by saying, "Don't mind, it's Holi!" (Hindi = Bura na mano, Holi hai.) There is exchange of greetings, the elders distribute sweets and money, and all join in frenzied dance to the rhythm of the drums.
It is one festival where you see unity. People roam around smeared with colours on their faces. People celeberate this day with liveliness even the restrictions on woman are relaxed on this day. Even our famous film industry (Bollywood) has made songs like the most famous one of Amitabh Bachan
· Rang Barse- Silsila
· Holi Khele Raghuveera- Baghban
· Holi ke Din-Sholay
· Aaye re Aaye re Holi- Zakhmee
· Aaj na chodenge bas humjoli khelenge hum holi- Kati Patang
On the occasion of Holi, crimes like eve-teasing, sexual harassment, gambling and consumption of drugs have grown tremendously in recent time.The public places like railway stations, parks, gardens etc are often guarded by disguised police officials.
The other infamous incidents related to Holi are that of balloon throwing. People target individuals from moving trains with color filled water balloons. The same can have very dangerous consequences. It may lead to partial or complete blindness if hit in the eye. In cities like Mumbai which is a hub of local trains such unfortunate incidents take place on a wide scale. It is not only the railway passengers who face the issue of water balloons. They are also thrown children at unknown people from distance. Parents should discourage such practices. The children should be explained its harmful impact both by parents and at schools. They must be warned that this may lead them to end up in juvenile homes for some time. Apart from this some people also throw mud and cow dung at people.
Gambling and playing cards is now being associated with Holi. People after consuming liquor play ‘teen paati’ or flash and try to make some money out of it. Playing pot is another activity in which people indulge into. Gambling is done on both small and high scale. Not only villages and small towns but also in big cities gambling takes place.
Consumption of liquor and drugs is a widely practised on this occasion. In spite of some governments banning sale of liquor on this day, people manage to arrange alcohol and drugs. Bhang is consumed by people in the name of Prasad. Even though consuming bhang is illegal, it is sold openly by shops on the festival. Some people claim that Bhang is the official drink of Holi. It is mixed with vadas, thandai and pakoras almost everywhere in northern India.
Drinking is not itself a crime but it can lead to many crimes. One of the major reasons of date rapes is intoxication. Females are unknowingly administered drugs by their counter-parts. They are then subjected to rapes. The female is unable to protest due to the effects of intoxication. Drunk driving although punishable by law is witnessed on occasions of Diwali, New Year and Holi. People drive unconsciously and not only put their lives in danger but also risk the lives of the others. Traffic Police does its best to control such acts but it may not be able to guard every street and lane.
It is not the Police which have to perform all the duties related to security on the festivals. The citizens also share some responsibility and accountability. Drinking and gambling is permissible but it should be controlled. One should not drive after drinking; your celebration might turn into a funeral for somebody else. Women must be careful while playing holi, they might be harassed or eve teased. Females must not go out alone on this day. One should not consume drugs or alcohol when offered by strangers, they might be robbers. Students and College administration must restrict the entry of strangers on this day. Shops selling water balloons must be heavily penalised. Acts like mud, egg and cow dung throwing must be discouraged by public. One should be a part of celebration and not that of crime. Enjoy the festival with some dignity and grace.
Let us stop immoral practices during this Rangapanchami and Protect Dharma
1. Do not apply colours forcibly. Stop people from doing so and give them the reasons.
2. Stop people from using excessive colours and hurling water balloons
3. Do not use harmful chemical colours.
4. Let’s enrich everyone Holi experience.