Hola Mohalla: Difference between revisions

'''Hola Mohalla''' ([[Gurmukhi]]: ਹੋਲਾ-ਮਹੱਲਾ ''hōlā muhalā''), also called '''Hola''', is a three-day long [[Sikh]] festival which normally falls in March.<ref name="SikhSpectrum">{{cite journal |last=Ahluwalia |first=M.S. |date=November 2004 |title=Tourism: The Festival of Hola Mohalla |journal=SikhSpectrum.com Quarterly |issue=18 |url=http://www.sikhspectrum.com/112004/hola.htm |access-date=2008-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517080324/http://www.sikhspectrum.com/112004/hola.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Calendar">{{cite web |url=http://www.sikhworld.co.uk/page19.html |title=Sikh Calendar |access-date=2008-09-17 |work=SikhWorld.co.uk |author=Amolak Singh}}</ref> It takes place on the second day of the [[lunar month]] of [[Chet (month)|Chett]], usually a day after the Hindu spring festival [[Holi]], but sometimes, coincides with it.<ref>Fieldhouse, Paul (2017) Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO [https://books.google.com/books?id=P-FqDgAAQBAJ&dq=hola+mohalla&pg=PA270]</ref><ref>Yang, Ananad. A. (1998) Bazaar India: Markets, Society, and the Colonial State in Gangetic Biharr University of California Press [https://books.google.com/books?id=D5lQutvzAp4C&dq=holi+first+day+of+chait&pg=PA133]</ref>

Hola Mohalla builds upon the Spring festival of Hola mohallaHoli. The Guru Granth Sahib contains passages prescribing the celebration of Holi by serving God.<ref>Talib, Gurbachan Singh (1991) Sri Guru Granth Sahib in English Translation, Volume 4. Punjabi University [https://books.google.com/books?id=EEhOAQAAMAAJ&q=festival]</ref> The colours of Holi manifest in the Lord's love.{{refn|group=note|The celebration is described as follows:<ref>[http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&Param=1180&english=t&id=50840#l50840 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji]</ref>

</blockquote>}} As Holi starts with [[Holika Dahan]] on the full moon night of Phagan or Phalgan[[Phalguna]], the festival of Holi is referred to as the festival of PhalgunPhalguna even though the actual day of Holi falls on the first day of the lunar month of Chett. Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji built upon this method of celebrating Holi by adding a martial element and creating Hola Mohalla to be celebrated a day after Holi.

The festival also has roots in the story of the child Bhagat, Prahlad[[Prahlada]] who would not accept his father, Harnakash[[Hiranyakashipu]], as god. According to Gandhi (2007), "in order to please her brother, Holka planned to burn Prahlad. She took him in her lap, sat in the midst of a heap of easily combustible straw".<ref>Gandhi, Surjit Singh (2007) History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E. Atlantic Publishers & Dist [https://books.google.com/books?id=vZFBp89UInUC&q=straw&pg=PA747]</ref> Holka[[Holika]] thought she would be protected by a cloth but it was PrahaldPrahlada who survived and HolkaHolika perished in the fire. The event gave rise to the belief that good triumphed over evil. According to regional tradition, Harnaksh (Hiranyakashipu), the King of [[Multan]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VUQrAAAAMAAJ&q=prahlad+multan M. Hanif Raza (1988) Multan: Past & Present. Colorpix]</ref> was defeated by good in the form of PrahladPrahlada. According to Lorenzen (1996) , the story of PrahladPrahlada was popular with the early Sikhs. The Guru Granth contains verses reciting Prahald by the saints Namdev and Kabir, and also by the third Guru Amar Das.<ref>Lorenzen, David N. (1996) Praises to a Formless God: Nirguni Texts from North India. Suny Press [https://books.google.com/books?id=tE3sShuid5gC&dq=prahlad+multan&pg=PA18]</ref>