Holi is a Hindu festival of colors. Although it is celebrated throughout the world, it is mainly celebrated in India and Nepal. This celebration doesn't celebrate colors, it is celebrated for a more historical reason, that may take long to explain. According to Indian mythology, it is celebrated because it marks good over evil. A king named Hiranyakashipu was demonlike. He forced people to worship him like God. He later had a son named Prahalad. He wouldn't worship his own dad, so Hiranyakashipu asked his sister Holika (see why it is called Holi) who is immune to fire to sit on Prahalad's lap in a pyre of fire. Hiranyakashipu's plan didn't go as planned. Prahalad was reciting a prayer for Lord Vishnu to be safe. Holika died. The death of Holika signifies the festival: Holi. Now, you may be thinking, How is this related to colors? This dates back to Lord Krishna. He used to celebrate Holi with colors, so other people did. Krishna played Holi with his friends in Vrindavan and Gokul. They played and Holi became a community event. Then, it became a celebration worldwide. Holi is also celebrated to say goodbye to winter. In some parts of India, Holi is celebrated as a welcome to the spring harvest. I don't really celebrate it that much, but my family that lives in India celebrates it every year
I also celebrate Holi and I made my blog about it. But I never knew why we celebrated it. All I was told was that it was the triumph of good over evil or a celebration of spring. After reading your blog I found out about the origins of Holi like the evil king and Holika. I think you should see Ritish's post about pongal. Pongal and Holi are like sibling celebrations. They are both very similar to each other. Do you think that they are similar or are they very different.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading your blog post, I only knew that Holi signified the arrival of spring and I didn't know that it has a much deeper history. I learned a lot after reading your post, such as the whole story of King Hiranyakashipu, where Holi got its name, and why people throw paint at each other during Holi. I suggest you go and read Aswath's blog post on Holi. Both of you guys have interesting information about Holi, but your blog post focuses more on the history of Holi while Aswath's post focuses more on how Holi is celebrated.
ReplyDeleteI think the comments show you the value of your post...well done!
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