Holi-A festival of colors

Calling this festival simply as the festival of colors is not enough it’s the festival of unity in diversity. It is enjoyed by individuals of different regions of the nation.

There are many mythological stories associated with this festival.The most famous ones are that of lord Krishna and Radha and that of Prahallad and Hiranyakashap.

According to the first legend lord Krishna used to spray colors on the gopis while he was in Vrindavan. That’s why on the purnima before holi people worship lord krishna first and then they put colors on him.This is called Dol purnima.  The color is called Abeer, is put on his feet as a way of seeking the lord’s blessings.

The second legend is a bit different it is said that Prahallad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu was the son of a devil Hiranyakashyap.The devil in order to kill his son for praying the lord called his sister Holika. She had the blessings of lord Brahma and would not die even if she sat on fire.This get interesting when she sits with prahallad on the fire and gets herself burnt instead of him.  From that day onwards people in some of the regions burn holika before the day of playing holi.

But these traditions are not followed nowadays. Youngsters start playing holi much before holika is burnt or much before dol purnima. For their personal enjoyment they have stopped following the traditions and customs.

Holi also has great biological significance since march and april are the months when people are more likely to get sick with skin diseases like chicken pox and other such diseases the colors of holi are said to keep such diseases off of us. Again during this people are more lazy than ever because of the change in season from winter to summer, the activities of the festival makes them work out their drowsiness.

People also clean their homes during holi making it more hygienic.

Now let’s move to the food section thandaai and bhang are one of the famous drinks of holi. Drinking it does make the people little drowsy but not drunk. They are naturally made beverages. Thandaai is basically prepared using milk,water, sugar, almond,poppy seed,fennel , fresh rose petal and cardamom powder. To go with it you may add 2-3 optional ingredients.  Bhang is prepared using Marijuana leaves,milk,sugar
,water,almond, clove, cardamom, ginger, rose water, Cinnamon etc.
Gujia, Papri, Dahi Valle are some other favored delicacies of Holi.

Gujia

Holi is played in different regions in different ways one of the most famous is the lath mar holi of Barsana region of India.It takes place days before actual holi, the man of Barsana visit Nandgaon region and sing provocative songs, the women of the village then act as if they are provoked and playfully beat the man with lathis   who in turn protect themselves with shields and all this take place near the radha rani festival. Thousands of tourists witness this festival every year.

Lath mar holi

In mathura holi continues for at least 16 days.
But in the major cities of the country this festival has taken a total different turn . Holi is organized by different clubs there people play holi using balloons, pichkari and abeer. The cultural importance is almost lost. Boys and girls drink thandaai and bhang and get themselves drunk totally. Lots of accidents also take place during this festival.One of the most recent one in which 5 people were fatally killed due to their own mistake took place last year.Girls are molested every year during this festival , since the faces are covered with colors so guys take it as  a chance to have their ways with us.
So girls be careful these two days about whom to trust. Don’t go into the sweet talks, be aware. And all of my fellow bloggers a very HAPPY HOLI to all of you.