Holi

Holi spans two days. Holika Dahan, the bonfire, is lit on the evening of Phalguna Purnima, the last full moon of the lunar year in the North Indian reckoning. Panchangs choose a muhurat after sunset while Purnima prevails, and traditionally avoid Bhadra (the inauspicious half-tithi called Vishti karana); when Bhadra covers the whole evening, the fire is lit after it ends, sometimes late at night.

The colours are played the next morning, on Chaitra Krishna Pratipada, called Dhulandi, Dhuleti or Rangwali Holi. Because the full-moon date of Phalguna is the same in both Purnimanta and Amanta calendars, all of India marks Holi on the same days. In the north, the eight days before the full moon are known as Holashtak, a period in which families usually avoid weddings and other major ceremonies.

The best-known story is that of Prahlada. The Bhagavata Purana (Book 7) tells how the demon-king Hiranyakashipu, who had won a boon making him nearly invincible, tried again and again to kill his young son Prahlada for worshipping Vishnu, and how Vishnu finally appeared as Narasimha, the man-lion, to protect him. Popular tradition adds Holika, Hiranyakashipu's sister, who was believed to be safe from fire. She sat in a blaze with Prahlada in her lap; the fire consumed her and spared the child. The bonfire is lit in memory of that deliverance.

The Puranas also preserve older layers. The Narada Purana (Purva-bhaga 124.76–81) prescribes Holika puja on Phalguna Purnima: wood is gathered, the fire is kindled with protective mantras and circled with song and music. It names Holika as a rakshasi who frightened Prahlada, and notes that some regard the fire as 'the burning of the year' and others as the burning of Kama. The Bhavishya Purana (Uttara Parva 132) tells of King Raghu, whose children were tormented by a rakshasi named Dhaundha; the sage Vasishtha advised that on this full moon children should gather wood, light a fire and shout and laugh freely, and the noise drove her away. This is offered as the origin of Holi's playful shouting.

In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka the festival recalls Kamadeva, burned to ashes by Shiva's third eye and restored at Rati's plea. And in Braj, Holi is above all Krishna's festival: the dark-skinned Krishna, so the devotional poets sing, coloured fair Radha's face, and the gopis answered with colour and sticks.

Customs differ by region and family. A common sequence is:

The Narada Purana gives the mantra with which the Holika fire is worshipped. Prahlada's own teaching on devotion, spoken to his father in the Bhagavata Purana, is the spiritual heart of the story.

Braj, around Mathura and Vrindavan, celebrates for more than a week. In Barsana, Radha's village, women playfully drive back the men of Krishna's Nandgaon with sticks in Lathmar Holi, and the next day the scene is repeated at Nandgaon. Vrindavan's temples hold flower Holi, showering devotees with petals.

In West Bengal and Odisha the full moon is Dol Jatra or Dol Purnima, when Krishna's image is swung in a decorated palanquin; at Shantiniketan, Rabindranath Tagore's Basanta Utsav welcomes spring with song and yellow clothes. Goa and the Konkan celebrate Shigmo with folk dances and floats. Kumaon in Uttarakhand has its musical Baithki and Khadi Holi, sung over weeks. Manipur's Yaoshang runs for several days around the full moon. In Punjab, the Sikh festival of Hola Mohalla, begun at Anandpur Sahib, is held the day after Holi with displays of martial skill. In the Caribbean, Fiji and Mauritius, Holi is known as Phagwah and remains a much-loved community festival.

Gujiya, the sweet dumpling filled with khoya and dry fruit, is the signature Holi sweet of North India, along with malpua, dahi vada, namakpare and cooling thandai flavoured with almonds, fennel and rose. Maharashtra makes puran poli; Bengal offers malpua and sandesh to Krishna. People visit friends and neighbours, smear gulal on each other's cheeks, touch elders' feet, and settle old quarrels with an embrace.

The traditional colours came from flowers and plants: palash (tesu) for orange, turmeric for yellow, and henna or leaves for green. Many families today return to such natural colours, avoid synthetic dyes, use water sparingly and never colour anyone, or any animal, against their will.

Holi carries two lessons in two days. The fire teaches that faith protected by the divine cannot be burned, however powerful the threat; Prahlada is still the model of a child's fearless devotion. The colours teach that for one morning differences of age, status and caste can be washed away in shared laughter. Coming at the end of winter, when the rabi crop is ripening, it is also a thanksgiving for the turning of the year. Celebrated with respect for others' comfort and consent, it remains one of the most joyful days in the Hindu calendar.