LONG ESSAY ON HOLI FESTIVAL – ESSAY 4 (1500 WORDS)
Introduction
Holi is a major Hindu festival celebrated with much fun and enthusiasm throughout India, as well as other countries of the sub continent. The customs and rituals of Holi celebration may vary between different regions of India, but all of them involve joyous playing with colours. It is a much awaited festival for playful adventurers as well as for the foodies, not to mention the children. Celebrated in the Phalgun month, the festival marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter. The celebration usually falls in late February or middle of March as per the Gregorian calendar.
Holi – a festival of Colors, Joy and Love
Holi is different from other Hindu festivals in the way that it doesn’t require veneration of any deity, as is mandatory with other festivals. The festival calls for pure joy, with no religious obligations what so ever.
It’s impossible to imagine Holi celebrations without colours. It is in fact also called- the festival of colours. People play with coloured powders locally called gulal. They spray gulal on friends and family members, greeting each other “Happy Holi” and hugging. Children could be seen playing in groups with various types of water guns (pichkari).
The houses and streets all get coloured with a combination of beautiful and bright red, yellow, blue, orange and violet. With the chilly winds of winter gone, people wear lose clothes and sprinkle each other with colours and coloured water. Everyone is painted in different colours from tip to toe; so much so, that it takes a moment or two to recognize even one’s closest friend.
The Legend of Holika Dahan
Holi is a two day festival, beginning on the evening of full moon day (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Phalgun. The colour Holi is played on second day morning.
The first day of Holi is called Choti (Small) Holi and a ritual of Holika Dahan is followed in the evening. Bonfires are made at street junctions or other suitable places in market, roads, streets, colonies etc. People burn their old belongings in the fire, symbolic to burning their feelings of envy, hatred and animosity. The ritual also signifies the victory of good over evil.
One of the commonly accepted legends of Holika Dahan is associated with the demon king Hiranyakashyap and his son Prahlada. Prahlada was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu; this infuriated Hiranyakashyap, who thought of himself as the God, in wake of the immortality boon that was granted to him. However, his son Prahlada was adamant in his resolve to worship Vishnu and rejected worshipping his own father, Hiranyakashyap.
Dejected by his own son, Hiranyakashyap got enraged and started subjecting Prahlada to torture, in order to persuade him to relent. When Prahlada refused regularly, Hiranyakashyap conspired with his sister Holika to trick Prahlada on sitting over a burning pyre with her. Holika supposedly had a boon granting her protection from burning in a fire. The evil plan was to burn Prahlada in the pyre, while Holika will be protected by the boon.
Holika finally succeeded in agreeing Prahlada to sit in the pyre with her. Prahlada agreed as he had extreme faith in his deity Vishnu. Holika got seated in the pyre with child Prahlada in her lap. As soon as the pyre was lit, Lord Vishnu intervened to save Prahlada and Holika was burnt to ashes, despite the boon. The boon granted to Holika didn’t worked, because; the immortality was granted to her only if she entered a fire alone.
Thus, people burn pyre on Choti Holi symbolic to the burning of evil Holika and also to welcome the colourful celebrations the next day.
Lath Mar Holi at Barsana
In the compound of Radha Rani temple at Barsana a small town near Mathura, the custom of Lath Mar Holi is being celebrated since centuries. Men from the nearby Nandgaon, visit Barsana where women would hit them with sticks, traditionally called lathis in Hindi. Men on the other hand, would protect themselves with shields and those who got caught are made to dance wearing women attire.
The Lath Mar Holi of Barsana has become so popular that millions of native Indians as well as foreign tourists visit Barsana to witness the celebrations.
Lose Your Inhibitions and Play with Colours
The festival of Holi has many positive effects on one’s personality as well as social relations. It is a festival to discard your shyness and make new friends. What could be the better way to make new friends than to by play with colours?
The festival helps you to identify the inner joy, which had been lying suppressed inside you. Discard your shyness, hesitation and all the emotions those have been holding you back in daily life. With just a little effort from your side, you will transit to a new world of colour, love and joy.
Spray colour on whoever you can, without any hesitation, thus, you will make new friends and will sure remember the celebrations. All you need to do is to lighten your soul by shedding all your inhibitions.
Time to Forgive and Forget
Holi is a festival of joy. True joy is a matter of soul rather than the body. If we are physically fit, but keep the feeling of hatred or animosity against someone, we cannot be happy in true sense. Whether you have done wrong onto someone or someone has done wrong onto you, in both the cases it’s your inner joy that suffers.
The celebration of Holi provides a marvelous opportunity to turn your enmity into friendship or repair a broken relationship. Shed all your hatred and forgive the sinner, or forget if someone or something has offended you or made you sad. When we shed all the bad feelings and open our arms to the joy and a new world, we will be happier.
The custom of visiting houses of friends and relatives is a major ritual during the Holi season. The custom continues for weeks even after the Holi celebrations. It is the best time to repair broken relationships or to renew the forgotten ones.
Indian Holi Delicacies for the Platter
Holi is undoubtedly the festival of colours, but it is also a festival of delicacies for those with an appetite for sweets and other mouthwatering dishes. There are hundreds of literally mouth watering dishes prepared during Holi, in various corners of India. Every region and culture of India has its own signature Holi delicacy.
The air is filled with a mix of sweet aroma and the essence of numerous fried delicacies those are prepared in abundance in every household. Ghujiya, a sweet delicacy popular in north India, prepared by deep frying dough pockets filled with khoya (a kind of milk food) and nuts, is one of my favourites. Dahi Vada is another Holi delicacy which has its roots in northern India.
In the state of Maharashtra, Puran Poli is prepared during the Holi festival. It is also Maharashtra’s festival favorite and is prepared in almost all the festivals. It is basically a flat dough chapati filled with sweet chana dal.
This Holi ‘Say no to Synthetic Colours’
Holi being a festival of colours, lots of temporary shops could be seen selling rather cheep colours. The colours available in form of powder often constitute toxic metals like copper, mercury, aluminum and lead. They may also contain harmful dyes and paints, not suitable for use by humans.
Use of cheap synthetic colours, results in a number of ailments, ranging from a mild skin rash to as serious as cancer. Cases of skin lesions, burning sensation and eye irritation are reported during the Holi festival, possibly due to the toxic compounds in the colours. Synthetic colours are often prepared with a base of corn starch or flour, whose contamination makes the situation worst.
Fortunately, people are getting more aware about the harmful effects of synthetic colours. A custom of using naturally derived colours is developing and is being practiced widely. By switching to colours derived from natural resources, we not only save our health but the health of environment as well. Natural colours when enter soil or water resources do not pollute them like the synthetic colours do.
Natural colours are derived from natural harmless minerals like gulal, mehndi, turmeric etc. Flowers are also used to produce colours, like red colour is produced from roses; yellow colour is produced from sunflower. Besides, many natural colour dyes can be produced from plants and flowers.
Conclusion
Holi is a festival of colour, celebrated with fun and joy. Get ready to drench in water and colour, but also be careful to not to harm yourself and others. Open your mind, shed your inhibitions, make new friends, pacify the unhappy ones and repair broken relationships. Be playful but also be sensitive to others. Don’t trouble anyone unnecessarily and always keep your conduct composed. Last but not the least; take a resolve to play only with natural colours this Holi.
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