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 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.

No matter which part of the world the festivals happen, they are guaranteed to be feasts of colour and usually involve sprinkling coloured waters and brightly coloured powders on other revellers. Balloons filled with coloured waters are also splashed on friends and anyone else who happens to be nearby! Pichkari, plastic, metal or even bamboo tubes filled with colours are used to share the colours of the holiday. Beautifully coloured clothes are also worn in dances and other festivities. Many areas celebrate with huge bonfires that have different meanings depending on the local legends that are the basis for the holiday. Along with traditional Holi recipes, such as malapuas, sweets are also a special part of Holi.

If you can imagine a holiday that combines Thanksgiving, Carnival and Valentine’s Day with the colours of Easter - but where people get coloured instead of receiving eggs - you have some idea of why this holiday is so eagerly awaited.

Gulab Thandai

A refreshing drink popular at Holi.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp watermelon seeds • 12 almonds • 1 tsp fennel seeds • 15 black peppercorns • 4 green cardamon • 2 tsp dry rose petals • 3 dates • 2 tsp raisins • 1 tbsp rose water • 1 1/4 cups milk • 1/2 cup water

Method

Soak the dates in milk, enough to cover them, and the rose petals in rose water. Soak all the other dry ingredients in water, seperately for a couple of hours. Peel the almonds, drain the water from the watermelon seeds and add these to a grinder or blender. Add all the other ingredients including the liquid, and mix to a fine paste. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix well, then pour this through a fine sieve. Add 1 cup of chilled milk and serve over ice.

Recipe sent in by Ruchi, ‘Tangy Treat Kitchen’.