Holi OK V

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Holi

India is a land of rich culture and festivals are an integral part of every Indians life. Indian festivals are source of celebration and joy. They are colorful, full of life and most of all touch the very soul of its people. Holi is a very beautiful festival of India. It is popularly known as festival of colours. It is a spring religious festival celebrated by Hindus. But people of all walks of life celebrate it with great enthusiasm. This celebration is also considered as a celebration related to harvest. The Indian festival Holi comes in the months of March - April and this season is known as spring season. Everywhere we can see the scenery of yellow, red and pink flowers. Spring season is most beautiful season for different types of plants and trees. This season is the symbol of natural beauty. Holi festival falls on the Phalgun Purnima or we can say Pooranmashi. Holi is one occasion when sprinkling colored powder (gulal) or colored water on each other breaks all barriers of discrimination so that everyone looks the same and universal brotherhood is reaffirmed. There are many legends given as the reasons for celebrating holi. Long ago there was a king named Hiranyakashyapu, he had a son, Prahlad - a holy spirit and highly devoted to God. But Prahlad's devotion enraged Hiranyakashyapu and he planned to kill his own son. He asked her sister Holika, who was immune to fire, to sit in fire taking Prahlad in her lap. Fortunately Prahlad, who was blessed by Lord, was saved and Holika was burnt to ashes. This gave birth to the festival of Holi. Days before the festival people start gathering wood for the lighting of the bonfire called Holika at the major crossroads of the city. This ensures that at the time of the actual celebration a huge pile of wood is collected. Another legend speaks of the everlasting love between Radha and Krishna. There are also a few other legends associated with the festival. All depict triumph of good over evil - lending a philosophy to the festival. Another legend of Holi which is extremely popular in Southern India is that of Lord Shiva and Kaamadeva. According to the legend, people in south celebrate the sacrifice of Lord of Passion Kaamadeva who risked his life to revoke Lord Shiva from meditation and save the world. Kama's body was destroyed when he shot his weapon at Shiva in order to disrupt his meditation and help Parvati to marry Shiva. Shiva then opened his third eye, the gaze of which was so powerful that Kama's body was reduced to ashes. For the sake of Kama's wife Rati (passion), Shiva restored him, but only as a mental image, representing the true emotional and spiritual state of love rather than physical lust. The Holi bonfire is believed to be celebrated in commemoration of this event. Mythology also states that Holi is the celebration of death of Ogress Pootana who tried to kill infant, Krishna by feeding poisonous milk to it. Also, popular is the legend of Ogress Dhundhi who used to trouble children in the kingdom of Raghu and was ultimately chased away by the pranks of the children on the day of Holi. Showing their belief in the legend, children till date play pranks and hurl abuses at the time of Holika Dahan. Celebration of the various legends associated with Holi reassures the people of the power of the truth as the moral of all these legends is the ultimate victory of good over evil. Holi is celebrated with vibrant colours - these colour are actually colours of joy, colours of love and colours that fill our life with happiness to the core of our hearts. It adorns each life with its various hues. People play Holi by throwing coloured powder on the faces of their friends and relatives. Many are also drenched in coloured water. People laugh heartily at it. They embrace each other. They wish each other a happy Holi. All childrens, men, women play with full of joy. Food preparations also begin many days in advance, and various kinds of snack items, which are served to Holi guests. Holi special get together are also organised by various cultural organisations to generate harmony and brotherhood in the society. Groups of people move about with drums and sing songs. The most enjoyable tradition of Holi, of course, apart from the play of colours is the tradition of breaking the pot. Here a pot of buttermilk is hung high on the streets. Men form a huge human pyramid and one on the top breaks the pot with his head. All this while women keep singing Holi folk songs and throwing buckets and buckets of water. The tradition has its roots in the mischievous nature of Lord Krishna who was so fond of butter milk that he used to steal it from every accessible house in the village. To hide the butter from young Krishna, womenfolk used to hang it high. All in vain! In villages farmers have a special reason to rejoice at the time of festival. Their fields are rich with ripe crops. They rejoice because the spring changes their green field into ripe crops. They beat drums and dance in joy. The women especially enjoy a degree of freedom during the festival which is not otherwise available to them routinely. In the evening people visit friends and relatives and exchange gifts, sweets and greetings. There are many-many more ways in which Holi is celebrated. Different states, different cities and different villages have come out with their unique and innovative styles of playing Holi. It may not be possible to describe all of them at one place. What is noteworthy though is the fact that the spirit of Holi remains the same throughout. It is the festival which generates the spirit of brotherhood and bring people close - and this is what matters most than anything else. Holi helps to bring the society together and strengthen the secular fabric of our country. For, the festival is celebrated by non-Hindus also as everybody like to be a part of such a colouful and joyous festival. Also, the tradition of the Holi is that even the enemies turn friends on Holi and forget any feeling of

hardship that may be present. Besides, on this day people do not differentiate between the rich and poor and everybody celebrate the festival together with a spirit of bonhomie and brotherhood. In spite of being such a colourful and gay festival, there are various aspects of Holi which makes it so significant for our lives. The legend of Hiranyakashyap and Prahlad also points to the fact that extreme devotion to god pays as god always takes his true devotee in his shelter. All the legends help the people to follow a good conduct in their lives and believe in the virtue of being truthful. This is extremely important in the modern day society when so many people resort to evil practices for small gains and torture one who is honest. We must try to wash away all the evils in our hearts along with the colours and allow the colour of love to stay there forever and ever. This is the true spirit of Holi.

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