Sanatan culture is based on religiosity, spirituality, and
scientism. In almost every
festival, important and very
useful messages are hidden for human life. Obviously, these festivals have a great contribution to
convey to the future generations.
The festival
of Holi also conveys a great message to humanity.
You can
understand this festival in two parts -
- Holika Dahan ( lighting bonfires) and
- Festival of colors
Holi light
bonfires have a very important message
that human beings should not have ego and
arrogance because the ego is bound to end. Holi denotes a conflict between ego and faith in
God in which the ego is burnt in its own
lit fire, but the armor of faith provides meaning to human life.
In this
festival which is celebrated on the last day of the Hindu year ( samvatsar) in the month of Falgun ( a month of Hindu
year which normally falls in March / April)) which is a full moon night. Every person is also expected to review all
the erratic actions, mistakes committed
especially under the influence of ego in the entire year and destroy
their ego and arrogance in the fire of
Holi. They should make a new beginning in the new year with love, affection,
joy, harmony and humanity at the center.
According to
a legend, a demon named Hiranyakashyap pleased Brahma, a god who has created
the living beings in the universe but when Brahma did not give him
the boon of being immortal, he
requested for a boon that he should not be killed in conditions, 1.
Neither by human nor any known creature animal, 2. Neither in the day nor night,
3. Neither inside nor outside of the
home, 4. Neither on the earth nor in the sky.
It was a
boon that made him almost immortal and
because of this, Hiranyakashyap became so arrogant that he declared himself God and banned the worship of any other deity
in his kingdom.
However, his
son Prahalad was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap did not like
this and therefore he tried to convince Prahalad
to stop this. When there was no result of his efforts, he ordered Prahalad to
be killed. Many attempts were made to
kill Prahalad but failed.
Then
Hiranyakashyap's sister, whose name was Holika and who had the boon that she
could stay safe even while in the fire, conspired to make Prahlad sit on her
lap and sit in a burning pyre so that in this way Prahalad can be killed.
But when a
boon is used in a negative way for destructive purposes, it does not flourish,
so Holika, who was Prahalad’s aunt, was burnt in fire but Prahalad, the supreme devotee of God
Vishnu, survived safely. Later Lord Vishnu killed Hiranyakashyap by appearing in the form of Narasingh, a creature who was
half human and half lion. There was no protection available to
Hiranyakashyap against the creature in
the boon . Later Prahalad became the king and established an ideal rule in the
kingdom for ages. Prahalad is still immortal as Dhruva star ( Pole star)
.
After
Phagun( the last month of Hindu year which falls normally in March / April),
the Chaitra begins, which is the first month of the new year ( Hindu year) ,
but the new year actually does not start
from the first day of chaitra instead the new year starts after a fortnight.
Why does not
the new year begin immediately after Holi?
Since the
first fifteen days (first fortnight) of Chaitra month is Krishna Paksha ( no
moon fortnight or black fortnight) and
in Hindu (Sanatan) culture it is not considered appropriate to start the new
year in darkness, hence the new year starts with Shukla Paksha ( moon fortnight
) which is known Shukla Pratipada or Nav
Ratra.
It is
believed that God Brahma created the universe in the Shukla Pratipada of
Chaitra month, and this is the time when various forms of Mother Adishakti (
Mother Goddess), which is the nature, are worshiped . This Navratri period is
known as the most sacred for any good work.
Importance
of Holi and colors -
This 15-day
time gap between the old and the new year is used to fill the color of love, affection in the
society, to promote harmony, mankind,
and joy. The manner in which this festival of colors is celebrated is very psychological so much that
it acts as a catalyst in creating love and harmony by filling the gaps and
ending the differences in the hearts of people.
Such an
accurate psychological way of developing harmony, freeing people from despair
and frustration for becoming happy and fitting again into the social structure
with a sense of treating the world as one family . This was the time when it was
prevalent in India, it was not imagined
in any other culture of the world in that ancient era.
This
festival of colors, provides an
excellent example of bringing closeness, intensity and ease in various family
and social relationships. The celebration of colors probably started from the
time when knowledge and practice of colors started.
Evidence is
available which shows that this festival of colors of Holi was also prevalent
in Ayodhya at the time when Lord Rama was ruling. This festival of colors
became synonymous with love in various forms during the Lord Krishna period and
even today this Holi of braj ( where Lord Krishna spent his earlier days) is
one of the famous love festivals of the world.
In every era and period, various authors, writers, mystics, and poets have depicted the character of different emotional colors to Holi in their creations in their own ways and assumptions.
In various
parts of the country, Holi songs are
available in the forms of folk songs,
vernacular songs and these are part of local traditions. Famous Holi songs of
falguni songs sung in Holi are compiled in different languages like Awadhi,
Bhojpuri, Brij Bhasha and other local
dialects, which is the hearing that engulfs the human with joy. There are all
kinds of songs in it, religious, social, and aesthetic.
Many songs and music related to Holi have been given place in movies of different languages including Hindi and in some places their portrayal is so wonderful that people start to shriek.
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- Shive Mishra
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Photo - Google
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