Holi Festival 28-29 March 2021
Holi is a two-day festival. A day before the main Holi, a community bonfire called Holika Dahan or Choti Holi is made. This year Holika Dahan it will be celebrated on March 28, 2021.
Holi is one of the most important Hindu festivals celebrated with great fervour in India. On this day people smear colours or gulal on each other and so the festival is rightly called ‘the festival of colours’. Holi is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalgun and so it also signifies the arrival of spring.
The following day people celebrate Holi by playing and smearing each other with colours. Holi– also known as Dhuleti, Dhulandi, Rangwali Holi– falls on March 29 this year but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing orders, it would not be played with as much enthusiasm as before during the pre-pandemic times.
Though the festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm across India, the Lathmar Holi celebrated in Barsana, which is the home of goddess Radha, is very famous. During Lathmar Holi, as the name suggests, women hit men with sticks or Lath, as the men try to shield themselves. The Holi celebrations in other places which are related to Lord Krishna like Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Nandagaon, Gowardhan are very famous too.
On this day a bonfire is lit after sunset and people perform religious rituals. The ritual of Holika Dahan is done in remembrance of the burning of demoness Holika thus signifying the victory of good over evil.
Purnima tithi begining time: 3.27 AM on March 28, 2021
Purnima tithi end time: 12.17 AM on March 29, 2021
Muhurat for Holika Dahan on March 28, 2021: 6:54 PM to 9:14 PM
History, story and significance:
There are many legends behind celebrating the festival of colours– Holi. As mentioned above, Holika Dahan signifies the victory of good over evil. According to Hindu mythology, the demon King Hiranyakashyap had the boon that he could not be killed by any man or animal.
And so, the Demon King wanted people to worship him. But his own son Prahlad, who was a devotee of Lord Vishnu, refused to do so. This angered King Hiranyakashyap so much so that he asked his sister demoness Holika to take Prahlad in her arms and sit in a pyre.
Holika tried to protect herself from the fire using a cloak, thus leaving Prahlad to be burnt. But as the fire started, the cloak flew away from Holika’s body and instead it covered Prahlad thus saving him. In the process, Holika got burnt to death. Later Lord Vishnu donned the avatar of Narsimha and killed the demon King Hiranyakashyap.
