Focus: The Brilliant, Dynamic Colors Of India's 'Holi Festival'

By Pavan Sood | INNLIVE

HAPPY HOLI Holi is a major festival in the Hindu religion. It is celebrated on the day after the last full moon of the Hindu month of Phalguna. Phalguna falls between late February and early March in Western calendars. Holi usually marks the happy transition from harsh, dark winter to brighter, warmer springtime.

Holi celebrates the Hindu story of Prahlada. Prahlada was a prince dedicated to the worship of Vishnu, a major Hindu god. Prahlada's father and aunt opposed his religious faith, and as punishment made him sit in the middle of a raging bonfire. Vishnu protected Prahlada, and the prince did not burn.
Bonfires remain a part of Holi rituals today. However, the most striking aspect of the festival is the spraying of brightly colored powders and water in enormous public celebrations. The colors mark both Prahlada's flickering bonfire and the bright colors associated with spring.

The "Festival of Colors" is also a time for Hindus to relax social codes. Barriers between rich and poor, men and women, young and old are broken down by Holi's bright colors. A familiar saying is bura na mano, Holi hai—don't be offended, it's Holi!

The most boisterous of Hindu festivals, Holi waves goodbye to winter and welcomes in spring in a rainbow of colours. In India it’s predominantly celebrated in the north of the country, and is quite rightly known as the Festival of Colours for the raucous events on Holi’s final day, when children and adults take to the streets throwing colourful gulal (powder) over each other. 

Dyed water is shot from syringes, thrown from buckets and poured into balloons, which are then tossed at people. It’s sanctioned anarchy and, as a visitor, you’ll be a particular target so expect to finish the day looking like gulab jamun (a red, sticky Indian sweet). Authorities urge the use of natural dyes, so they can be easily cleaned off, but you could be a mobile colour chart for days or weeks after. 

Though it runs for three days, Holi is mostly condensed into this final mad day. The night before, huge bonfires are lit at major crossroads in towns and cities and  effigies of the demon Holika are burned to symbolise the triumph of good over evil. Whether you think good or evil comes up trumps the next day might depend just how much gulal ends up being thrown your way. 

There are many places to witness huge Holi celebrations. In Udaipur, the royal family hosts an elaborate function at the City Palace, while the Uttar Pradesh towns of Mathura, Nandgaon, Vridavan and Barsana are linked with the birth and childhood of Krishna, giving them special Holi significance In Nepal, the festival is also known as Fagu and is a muted mix of India’s Holi and Thailand’s Songkran. 

Falling late in Nepal’s dry season, at a time when the country is heating up, water is sprayed about as a reminder of the cooling monsoon days to come. As in India, coloured powder and water (particularly red) is also dispensed, and again foreigners will get special attention. Holi’s origins are little known but references to it have dated back to around the 3rd century BC.

To mark the end of winter and the arrival of spring, millions of Hindus from India and elsewhere celebrate Holi, the festival of colors. The national holiday officially begins March 27, but regional variations of Holi have taken place across the country in recent weeks. Devotees dance and throw colored powders known as "gulal" at each other to welcome the warm months to come. 

The use of gulal, which can also be mixed with water to form a dye, has its roots in the story of the love affair between the god Krishna and Radha. According to legend, Krishna, often depicted with a blue complexion, colored the face of Radha because he was jealous of her fair complexion.