Why holi festival is celebrated

Performers engaged the crowd by giving workshops on belly dancing, Bhangra, and Bollywood, and inviting participants to come on stage. Indian culture and tradition was showcased through the various booths. Holi goers enjoyed activities such as henna tattoo and rangoli making folk art in which patterns are created on the floor using colored sand , and authentic Indian cuisine from Kashmir, Green Dot, Bollywood, and Kebab Factory.

Unsupported Browser Detected. Like every other festival in the country, Holi is also associated with popular legends. These interesting stories recount the history behind various festival rituals.

The story of Holika Dahan. Legend has it that once, there was a powerful king named Hiranyakashipu. He was a devil and was hated for his cruelty. He considered himself to be God and wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship him like one. However, his own son, Prahlada, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and refused to worship his father. Angry with the disobedience of his son, Hiranyakashipu tried killing his son a number of times, but nothing worked. He then asked his evil sister, Holika, for help.

Holika possessed a special power of being immune to fire. So, to kill Prahlada, she tricked him into sitting with her on a pyre.

But due to her evil intentions, her power became ineffective and she was burned to ashes. On the other hand, Prahlada gained this immunity and was saved. This is why the first day of Holi is celebrated as Holika Dahan and symbolizes the victory of good over evil. The story of Radha and Krishna. In the region of Braj where Lord Krishna grew up in Uttar Pradesh , Holi is celebrated until the day of Rangpanchmi as a huge festival, in memory of the devotional love of Krishna and Radha.

A local legend is associated with this as well. When Krishna was a baby, he acquired a distinctive blue skin colour after drinking the poisoned breast milk of the she-demon, Putana. Later, when he became young, he would often feel sad about whether the fair-coloured Radha or other girls in the village would ever like him because of his dark colour. So when Krishna applied colour to Radha, they both became a couple, and since then, people have started playing with colours on Holi.

Celebrating the colourful festival of Holi involves a number of rituals:. Preparing the Holika pyre. A few days prior to the festival, people start collecting wood and other inflammable things for the bonfire. The combustible materials are then gathered in a pyre in colonies, community centres, parks or other open spaces.

On top of the pyre, an effigy of Holika is placed to be burned as per the legend. The evening before Holi is known as Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi during which people light a bonfire to signify the burning of the demon Holika. This year, Chhoti is being celebrated on March As per Hindu mythology, demon king Hiranyakashyap was given a reward which gave him the power to not be killed by either a man or any animal, hence, he wanted to be worshiped by people.

His son Prahlad, however, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. While sitting one fire, Holika died, but Prahlad was saved by Lord Vishnu, who later took the avatar of Narasimha- a half human and half lion and killed the demon king.

Holi also marks the arrival of the spring harvest season and the end of winter in the country. Holi is celebrated in the month of Phalguna of the Hindu calendar and the festivities start on the evening of the Purnima Full Moon day. Children enjoy the day by playing with water baloons and water guns.