The Festival of Colour
This colourful festival of the Hindus, celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna, heralds theadvent of spring.
The colourful festival of Holi, literally `burning`, is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna and heralds the spring season. The word probably originated from a cry, shout or sound in singing.
Holi is the time when people from all castes and social strata come together forgetting all past differences and grievances. Originally the festivalwas primarily for the Shudras who were otherwise not allowed to participate in festivals. Today having lost its original significance, the festival is a favourite with most Indians for being the most colourful and joyous of all. Every year it succeeds in bridging the social gap, between employers and employees, men and women. People visit homes, distribute sweets and apply gulal on each other, signifying the colourful and happy spring times ahead. They greet each other, embracing three times.This is specially significant in the rural areas where in many places, there still exists a clear demarcation between each caste and community. And people of a high caste do not associate much with those of the lower.
In ancient India too, this festival was celebrated as a day when people forgot caste and gender differences and were allowed many liberties, otherwise forbidden. In fact Holi bears close resemblance to the important ancient festival called Vasantotsava.Holi is not celebrated in south India,but a similar festival in the honour ofthe god of love Kama, takes place there at the same time. While there does not seem to be a direct link between the two rituals, literary sources suggest that both occasions are examples of an age-old tradition of celebrating the arrival of spring.
Holi can also be termed a youth festival, as it provides an opportunity for young men and women to mingle freely and participate in dances and cultural programmes in an otherwise conservative society. Young men throw coloured powder and coloured water on women, using pichkaris. The origin of this custom can be found in the pranks of Krishna, who used to drench milkmaids in the village with water and play various other tricks on them. Holi celebrations are also marked by the singing of lewd songs, shouting and dancing. Thandai, a drink made with almonds and milk, and cannabis pakoras are extremely popular on this day. At times Holi celebrations tend to get a little violent. People throw slushand paint on passers-by.
The day before Holi is Choti Holi or"small Holi". The main ritual on this day centres around a bonfire ceremoniously kindled at the time ofthe rising moon. This suggests that the festival is also a celebration of the barley harvest. People start collectingfire-wood, cow-dung and rubbish around a central pole in the locality many days in advance. On Choti Holi, they come together to light the fire. Men and women circumambulate the fire singing and dancing. A pot of new barley seeds is buried under the pyrefor roasting. These seeds are eatenafter the fire is extinguished. Divinations for the coming harvest are cast by interpreting the direction of the flames or by the state of the seeds in the buried pot. People sometimes take embers from the fire to their homes to rekindle their own domestic fires. The ashes from the Holi fire are also believed to provide protection against diseases.
Mythologically, the Holi fire is regarded as a funeral pyre, for it is understood to have destroyed Holika, a demoness. According to a legend, Hiranyakshipu was a demon king. He wanted to avenge the death of his younger brother, who had been killed by Vishnu. He performed severe penance for many years to gain enough power to become the king ofthe three worlds. So intense was hispenance that a smoke billowed from his head and the entire world was in danger of annihilation. Worried, the gods ran to Brahma for help. Brahma then appeared before Hiranyakshipu and the demon asked for a boon that he would be killed by neither man nor beast, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither on earth nor in the heavens,neither during the day nor at night. Brahma granted him the boon.
Believing that he was now invincible, Hiranyakshipu soon became pompous and ordered all his people to worship only him. The demon however, had a son named Prahalad who was anardent devotee of Vishnu. Much to his father`s chagrin, Prahalad continued to pray to Vishnu. The evil demon decided to kill his own son, but each attempt failed. The king then summoned his sister Holika who, because of a boon, was immune to fire. He prepared a pyre, lit it and asked Holika to sit on it, clutching Prahalad. The women of Barsana beat the men of Nandagaon with sticks Vishnu intervened to save Prahalad and the evil Holika perished instead.
This legend is relived on Choti Holi when the pyre is re-lit. Holika also signifies the dirt and filth that collects during the winter months. Hay and old rubbish is thrown into the bonfire for spring cleaning.
Holi at Mathura and Vrindavana is celebrated with great gusto for many days, as these were the places where Krishna spent most of his childhood. Itis celebrated for many days here. Each major temple celebrates Holi on a different day. People throng the temples to get drenched with coloured water and consider it a blessing from the god. Of particular interest is the Holi festival in the village of Barsana, 42 km from Mathura. Radha belonged to Barsana while Krishna hailed from Nandagaon. On Holi, men from Nandagaon come to Barsana to celebrate Holi with the women here,who are ready to beat them with stick sinstead of playing with gulal. This is called lathamar Holi. This is very similar to the dulandi Holi played in Haryana, where the bhabhi beats herdevar with her sari rolled up into arope. All this is done in good humour and in the evening the devar brings sweet meats for his bhabhi.
In Maharashtra and Gujarat, agrand procession of men soaked with coloured water walks through thestreets shouting `Govinda alha re alha, Zara matki sambhal brijbala`` or `Here comes Govinda (another name of Krishna), take care of your pots ofbutter and milk, oh girls from Brij`. Thisrefers to Krishna`s habit of stealing butter and milk stored in terracotta pots from people`s homes. As a child, Krishna was extremely fond of milk and milk products. He would prowl into any accessible house with his friends and steal pots of butter or break pots of milk. During Holi, a pot of buttermilk is hung high up in the street. Men forming a human stair case try to break this pot, and who ever succeeds is crowned the Holi king of the locality for that year.
In Bengal, Holi is called Dol Yatra, or the swing festival. Idols of Radhaand Krishna are placed on swings and devotees take turns to swing them. Women dance around the swing and sing devotional songs, as men spray coloured water at them.
In Manipur too, Holi is extremely interesting. It is a six-day festival here, commencing on the full moon day of Phalguna. The traditional and centuries-old Yaosang festival of Manipur amalgamated with Holi in the 18th century with the introduction of Vaishnavism. The entire theme of the festival is woven into the worship of Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,also known as Lord Gauranga.
Thabal Chongba, a popular Manipuri folk dance, is associated with this festival. The literal meaning of Thabal is `moonlight` and Chongba Thabal Chongba, a popular Manipuri folk dance, is performed on Holi means `dance`, therefore `dancing in the moonlight`. In earlier times, thisdance was performed in the moonlightaccompanied by folk songs. The only musical instrument used was a dholakor drum. With the passage of time, the dholak has been replaced by modern bands and fluorescent lamps.Traditionally conservative Manipuriparents did not allow their daughters togo out and meet any young men without their consent. Thabal Chongba therefore provided the only chance for girls to meet and talk to the boys. It is performed in every locality on all the six days of the festival.
The celebrations in Manipur are quite different from elsewhere. Beginning days before, people of all ages collect money from the community to spend on the festivities. Instead of a fire, a hut is built and then set ablaze. The next day, boys go in groups to play gulal with the girls. And in return for playing with them, the girls extract money from the boys.
Another significant feature of the festival in Manipur is the groups of devotees from different areas who gather at the Shree Govindaji Temple in Imphal. Dressed in the traditional white and yellow turbans,they sing songs in praise of Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, play gulal and dance in front of the temple. On Halangkar, the last day of the festival, hundreds of devotees gather at the temple as usual and march together towards the Vijay Govindaji Temple about 3 km west of Imphal where various cultural activities are performed. This brings to an end the Yaosang festival.
Many consider Holi to be a relic of a primitive fertility rite, and drinking bouts and sex orgies are still current among some communities.