HOLI
THE WORLD’S MOST COLOURFUL FESTIVAL - 18TH MARCH Holi is mostly celebrated by Hindus in India and Nepal, but the colourful festival is popular worldwide with many non Hindus choosing to take part too. As well as marking the start of spring, Holi is also known as “The festival of love” and celebrates fertility and colour. Holi is a national holiday in India and Nepal with regional holidays in other countries. The origins of Holi come from a mix of Hindu mythology including the popular legend of Hiranyakashyap - a demon king who wanted to be immortal. He wanted everyone to worship him as god but his own son, Prahlada, chose to worshipped Vishnu instead, which offended his father. One day the demon king asked his sister Holika, who had a magic shawl that could not catch fire, to sit on a raging fire with Prahlada in her lap. As the fire burned the shawl flew from the
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Holika’s shoulders onto Prahalada and she perished while he survived. The god Vishnu, impressed by Prahalada’s devotion, then appeared and killed the demon king, Hiranyakashyap. Another Hindi legend remembered over Holi is the tale of Lord Shiva and Kaamadeva. It is believed Kaamadeva, the god of passion, woke Shiva from his deep meditation so he could save the world. In some parts of India, Holi is also considered a New Year’s celebration. The festival arrives on day after the full moon of the Hindu lunar month of Phagan. The holiday is observed all over India and celebrates the harvest of the winter crops as it welcomes the beginning of Spring. The celebration has become so popular, in fact, that Holi as even been appropriated by a new generation of westerners with the traditional “throwing of colours” at new age music festivals.
WOKINGHAM LOCAL • MARCH 2022
