Holi: India's festival of colours and the mystery and myths of its origin add to its allure

An Indian festival is essentially season-based or pertains to a deity. But it is also a fact that the season definitely leaves its mark on the celebrations of that festival. Holi is a very popular festival celebrated in India, especially in the northern belt. The story behind the celebration of this festival is the same all over. Since Holi is around the corner, let us discuss its various aspects. Many versions of the origin of Holi, especially where Holika is concerned, are present in the public domain. Somewhere she is portrayed as Prahlad’s paternal aunt, and somewhere she is shown as Dalit (political propaganda). But no one exactly knows the source of any of these stories. None of the stories are mentioned in our ancient scriptures i.e. Shruti, Smriti, Itihasa  or Puranas. Folklores exist but they cannot be treated as authentic, especially when they are negatively portrayed. But people believe them as they are mentioned on the Internet which can be fake. The only authentic source available is a story about Holi, but not that you have not heard till now. There are two mentions of Holi. One in Bhavishya Purana and the other one in Garg Samhita. But the narrative of these stories does not match with the ones we have been hearing for ages. So, people choose the narrative that suits their political or social agenda. Out of the two main characters — Prahlad and Holika — Prahlad is a positive thought process whereas Holika is mixed with many negative traits, so she is full of negative vices. These seem to be a figment of the imagination and are nowhere mentioned in the scriptures. In Bhavishya Purana (Uttar Parva, Chapter 132), Yudhishthira asks a question to Krishna regarding what festival is celebrated in the month of Phalgun where children make unnecessary noises and what is Adada/Holika/Dhondha and which Devta is worshipped. Lord Krishna narrates a story from Satyuga to answer the above questions. There lived a very benevolent and generous king named Raghu. All his subjects were living happily and satisfactorily in his kingdom. Everything was running very smoothly. But one day, people gathered at the doors of the palace to complain about something that was harming them. The frightened people narrated stories of children being killed by a demoness named Dhonda (also known as Holika). The King summoned the Royal Sage Vashishth to get into the depth of the matter. Vashishth explained that Dhondha is the daughter of a demon named Mali. Dhondha (Holika) worshipped Lord Shiva for a very long time and got a boon from him that neither lord nor demon nor a man could kill her and neither there be a reason for her to be frightened of day or night or neither any of the main seasons should affect her. Shiva granted her the boon with a condition that only naughty and excited children could frighten her. From then on, this demoness came and harassed children and elders. She became quiet only after the chanting of the Adada mantra. Vashishth then told the king about the ritual to get rid of Dhonda. As per him, on the Purnima day of Phalguna in Shukla Paksha, all the people would have to be active and jump with joy. Boys should wield a wooden sword and run around like soldiers, shouting and enjoying. One should gather dry wooden pieces, cow dung cakes and grass and pile them together and burn them or perform Dahan. All should clap loudly and boys with wooden sticks should go around the fire three times to frighten Dhondha. So, the King himself followed this ritual and ordered every one of his subjects to follow the same. On this day, Pandits perform Vasordhara Yagya, therefore, this is also known as Holika. Small children should be protected on this day. The next morning, get up early and offer Tarpan to Pitras. Bring the ash from the previous night’s Holika and smear it on your body. Prepare a place with decorations for the Devtas. Married ladies attired in all their fineries should worship this place. Offer milk, curd, flowers, and incense along with performing the Vasordhara Yagya. Eat the previous day’s prasad along with the food. There is a mention of Lord Krishna playing Holi with Gopis and Radha with gulal in Garg Samhita. There is only a mention of Radha applying kajal in Krishna’s eye and Krishna giving her a brand-new dupatta. The book also describes how Holi was played in those days. People played with colours extracted from natural flowers (this is mentioned in the Madhurya Khand of Garg Samhita). But there is no mention of any woman being burnt on the pyre of wood and cow dung cakes. Besides these two stories, there is no other story describing the Holi festivities in our Sanatana scriptures. The writer is an author and a columnist. He tweets with @Anshulspiritual. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.