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The Indian sky is changing - the
March winds are coming in and winter begins to bow out. Holi is
the festival that carries the country into the bright days of
summer. A feeling of plenty is in the air - the crops have been
cut, threshed and stored or sold. The farmer is at rest and
money is at hand. ‘Holi’ falls on the full moon, in the
month of Phalgun, which spans the end of Februry and the
beginning of March on the Gregorian calendar. A time when Spring
is in the air.
The legend of King Hiranyakashipu is associated with the
festival of Holi. This legend signifies the victory of good over
evil, of devotion surpassing ambition. King Hiranyakashipu was
an ambitious ruler, one who wanted absolute power so that he
would be worshipped as God. When this wish was made known, the
King's own son, Prahlad, refused to obey his father. Prahlad was
an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, and it was only to his Lord
that he gave allegiance. The proud King was enraged by Prahlad's
disobedience and decided to punish him severely. He asked his
sister Holika for help. It was believed that Holika was immune
to fire and would never be burnt, so the King asked Holika to
sit in the centre of a bonfire with Prahlad on her lap, so that
the fire could devour him. The bonfire was lit, and young
Prahlad sat in Holika's lap, in its centre, praying to Lord
Vishnu. His devotion saved him, leaving him untouched by the
flames, but Holika was burnt to ashes. To mark this legend, huge
bonfires are lit on the eve of Holi, especially in Bihar and the
North.
Vrindavan and Lord Krishna's legend of courting Radha and
playing pranks on the Gopis are also the essence of Holi. In
Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna in his youth has been idealised as
a lover, and it is the spirit of his lighthearted, mischievous
passion of courtship that enters the Spring festival of Holi.
Krishna and Radha are depicted celebrating Holi in the hamlets
of Gokul, Barsana and Vrindavan, bringing them alive with
mischief and youthful pranks. Holi was Krishna and Radha's
celebration of love - a teasing, affectionate panorama of
feeling and colour. These scenes have been captured and
immoratalised in the songs of Holi: the festival that is also
the harbinger of the light, warm, beautiful days of Spring.
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