Holi Essay for Students and Children
A Bollywood superhit film came in the eighties – Sholay. Friends, there was a very lovely song in this movie – “Holi ke Din Dil khil jaate hai, rang mein rang mil jaate hai”. There is such a special thing about the festival of Holi that on this day even the enemies forget their grudges and become united. The importance of the Holi festival can be well understood from these two lines of this song.
Introduction:
Holi is one of the major festivals celebrated in our country. Like Diwali, Holi is also a big festival of Hindus. Holi is such a colorful festival that people of all religions celebrate together with great enthusiasm. This festival, which usually comes at the beginning of the spring season, is celebrated on the full moon day of the Falgun month of the Hindu calendar. People of all religions, sects and castes forget their grudges and celebrate this holi festival with enthusiasm and fun.
History and Holika Dahan story of Holi:
Every festival has a different significance in Indian culture and behind every festival there is some or other interesting story attached to it, which along with providing us a good education, deepens our faith in God. Similarly, there is an old story behind the festival of Holi. In ancient times there was a king named Hiranyakashyap among the demons. Hiranyakashyap considered himself to be God and had made an announcement among his subjects that no one should be worshiped except him. The people got scared by his order and started worshiping him. He got his temples built at different places. Whoever did not obey his order, he used to give him death sentence. One of Hiranyakashyap’s sons whose name was Prahlad. Child Prahlad started worshiping Lord Vishnu with the inspiration of Narad Muni.
Contrary to the orders of his father, the devotee Prahlad started worshiping Lord Vishnu openly. When Hiranyakashyap came to know about this, he prevented the child Prahlad from worshiping Lord Vishnu by threatening him in every way. He even put the child Prahlad in prison. But when Prahlad did not agree, he planned to kill Prahlad. He tried many ways but due to the grace of Lord Vishnu, he could not harm the devotee Prahlad. Hiranyakashyap also had a sister, Holika. Holika had a boon that fire would have no effect on her and she would not be able to burn in fire. Hiranyakashyap along with his sister Holika made a plan to make a pile of wood on which Holika would sit with Prahlad in her lap and set the pile on fire. Since Holika has the boon of protection from fire, nothing will happen to her and devotee Prahlad will get burnt. For the purpose of executing this plan, Holika sat on a pile of wood with Prahlad and it was set on fire. But exactly the opposite happened as both sister-brother had thought and Lord Vishnu protected the devotee Prahlad due to which Holika was burnt to ashes and nothing happened to the devotee Prahlad. The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbol of God protecting his devotee and the victory of truth over untruth.
When Holi is celebrated:
On the full moon day of Falgun month, Holika Dayan is organized and on the next day, Holi is played on Pratipada of Chaitra month, which is called Dhulandi. In this Holi festival, which is celebrated for two days, on the first day i.e. Holika Dahan, Holi Dahan is done according to the auspicious time in the evening and on the second day, Holi is played with colorful gulal and colors on Dhulandi. Children, old people, women, men all apply colors to each other and play Holi.
Use of Colors and Importance of Different Colors on Holi:
There is a mythological story behind the use of colorful abir, gulal, colors on the festival of Holi and the different colors used in it also have their own importance. . As it is believed, Lord Krishna is dark in complexion and Radhaji is fair in complexion.In childhood, Radhaji and other gopis used to tease Lord Krishna because of his dark complexion. So one day Lord Krishna asked his mother Yashodaji that mother my complexion is so dark that’s why Radha and other gopis tease me. I wish Radha’s complexion was like mine, then no one would have bothered me. So Mata Yashodaji jokingly said that the color in which you want to see Radha, apply that color on her face. Krishna ji liked this suggestion very much and along with his friends, he painted Radha ji and other Gopis fiercely. When the villagers saw Krishnaji, Radhaji and other boys and girls applying colors on each other, they liked this mischievous play of the children very much. It is believed that since then the tradition of playing with colors on the festival of Holi is going on. Different colors also have their own importance. Like red color is a symbol of love. It shows the love of Lord Krishna and Radhaji. Yellow color is a symbol of auspiciousness. The color of turmeric is yellow and turmeric is used in auspicious, auspicious works. Green color symbolizes the arrival of spring season. Blue color is the color of Lord Krishna.
When will Holi be celebrated in the year 2023 / Holi 2023:
The festival of Holi is celebrated on the full moon day of Phalgun month. In this year 2023, the full moon date will start on Monday, March 6 at 4.17 pm, which will remain till Tuesday, March 7 at 6.09 pm. Thus, the auspicious time for Holika Dahan will be from 6.31 pm to 8.58 pm on Tuesday, March 7. Dhulandi will be celebrated on 8th March. Holi holiday has been given in the official calendar on March 6 and March 7. So this year we will celebrates 6 march and 7 march Holi 2023. This year Holashtak will start from 27th February which will remain till 8th March According to the belief of Hindu religion, auspicious works are not done in Holashtak. According to mythology, once at the behest of Lord Indra, Kamadeva had broken the penance of Lord Shiva, due to which Lord Shiva opened his third eye and destroyed Kamadeva. The day on which Lord Shankar had consumed Kamdev was Ashtami of Phalgun month.After this, Goddess Rati, who was the wife of Kamadeva, performed penance for Lord Shiva for eight consecutive days, which pleased and brought Kamadeva back to life. These eight days are considered as Holashtak.
How to celebrate Holi:
Preparations for the festival of Holi are done 10-15 days before Holi. Cow dung cakes are prepared for worship on Holi Dahan. Cow dung is dried in different shapes like sun, moon, coconut, stars etc. and their garlands are made. Holi is made by the local administrations of villages and cities, committees of localities, colonies, etc. by placing a pile of Holi wood, grass, etc. at the main intersections of their respective cities, localities, dhanis, etc. In this, a thick bamboo is tied as a symbol of devotee Prahlad. In the evening, local women can worship Holi with decorations, dishes etc. Holi is circumambulated. After this, Holika Dahan is done according to the auspicious time. When Holi is set on fire on the occasion of Holika Dahan, then the stick tied as a symbol of the devotee Prahlad is taken out. After the bonfire is burnt, people circumambulate it. They apply gulal to each other and take Holika’s fire to their homes, put ghee, incense etc. on it and put its smoke in every corner of their house. This removes negative energy and brings positivity in homes. On the occasion of Holika Dahan, the new pods of wheat, also known as Dangi, are roasted in the fire of Holika. Dhulandi is celebrated on the next day of Holika Dahan. On this day women wake up early in the morning and retire from bath etc. and listen to the stories of Holi. After this, children and old people all play Holi with colors and gulal.They paint each other. Everyone goes to their friends, relatives and neighbors to celebrate Holi and apply colours. On this occasion, people form small gangs, sing bhajans of God and sing Holi songs along with chang-dhol etc.
Where is Holi celebrated the most in India:
Holi is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. Like Lathmar Holi in Barsana (Uttar Pradesh), Phaguwa Holi in Bihar, Khadi Holi in Kumaon (Uttarakhand), Rang Panchami in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Manjal Holi in Kerala, Basant Utsav and Dol Yatra in West Bengal, Royal Holi in Udaipur (Rajasthan) Etcetera. Holi is played differently in different regions of our country. In Uttar Pradesh, Lathmar Holi is played in Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Braj region.
Traditionally, women hit men with sticks and men bear those blows with wooden shields. Holi here is world famous and tourists from all over the world come here to see it. In Bihar, the festival of Holi is celebrated by the name of Fagua. Here Holi is played with folk songs of Bhojpuri language, water and natural colours. Cannabis is also specially used in Fagua. Khadi Holi is played in Kuanu region of Uttarakhand. Here people in traditional costumes play Holi with songs and dances by forming groups. In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Holi is celebrated as Rang-Panchami on the 5th day of Holika and there is a lot of hue and cry.Holi is celebrated in the form of Hola Mohalla in Punjab. Martial arts etc are performed on this occasion. In Kerala, Holi is celebrated as Manjal Coolie. In West Bengal, Holi is celebrated by taking out Basant Utsav and Dol Yatra. The Shigmo festival of Goa is celebrated as a huge spring festival. In Manipur, Holi is celebrated as the Yaosang festival, which lasts for seven days.Holi is celebrated as Fakuwah in Assam. Shahi Holi is celebrated in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, Udaipur, which celebrates by organizing grand celebrations. In Haryana, Holi is celebrated depicting the pure love of sister-in-law and brother-in-law, in which there is a tradition of torturing brother-in-law by sister-in-law. Holi is a big festival for the tribals of South Gujarat. Folk songs are prevalent on the occasion of Holi in Chhattisgarh. In Malvanchal, Holi is called Bhagoriya.
Holi special Dishes:
Like every festival, many types of dishes are made on Holi. Gujiyas comes first in the dishes made on Holi. There are many types of Gujiyas like Badam Gujiya, Mawa Gujiya, Sev Gujiya etc. Similarly, as soon as the name of Holi comes, the name of Thandai also comes to mind.
Thandai is prepared by mixing many types of nutritious things like pistachios, saffron, poppy seeds, dates, cashews, almonds etc. in milk. Some people drink bhang mixed with thandai. In many places, Imarti, Mawa Peda, Besan Chakki, Besan Laddus, Balushahi, Kheer etc. are also made on Holi.
Social Evils Related to Holi:
Holi is a festival of the mutual press, harmony, and brotherhood. But some people sanctify this festival also because of their behavior and bad deeds. Some antisocial elements consume many types of drugs on this occasion which should not be done. Some people also play gambling etc. on this occasion, which is evil. In this scientific era, many types of such chemicals have come, which are used by some people on Holi, such as grease, oil, etc. Using them burns the skin. Damage to eyes and hair. In the name of Holika Dahan, some people defile the house by putting garbage lying in it. People burn tires and many other types of waste items on the squares etc. due to which the environment is polluted. We should also avoid all evils.
Things to follow on Holi:
Everyone has fun on the day of Holi. But some people take this fun to another level, which spoils the fun of this holy festival. Every festival has some unspoken rules, which we must follow. In this era of modernity, many such things have come that we should not use on the day of Holi. The use of chemical-rich substances can cause problems like burning, itching, and swelling on the skin. Eyes can be damaged. Hair may become weak, and they may have dandruff. The use of hazardous colors can also cause respiratory problems.
There are many things to note for Holi that we should follow Children enjoy playing with water balloons on the day of Holi. Some people also add color to it along with water. Here it should be kept in mind that the balloon should not be thrown at any person. Somebody might get hurt by this. Throwing a balloon at a moving vehicle can cause an accident. It can also be damaged if water enters an eye. – Color etc. should not be thrown on moving vehicles, animals, etc. Due to this, there is a possibility of any untoward incident.
Use Herbal Holi Colors:
Harmful chemicals containing colors etc. should not be used. This can cause damage to the skin and hair. Herbal colors should be used as far as possible. No one should forcefully apply Gulal-color etc. Some people forcefully apply color on the face due to which there is a possibility of color in the eye.
This can also damage someone’s eyes. Some people misinterpret the festival of Holi and also take advantage of it. Touch someone anywhere, in any way, and apply color. Women especially feel uncomfortable on this occasion. This should not be done.
Conclusion:
The festival of Holi is a festival of colors that gives the message of brotherhood and unity rising above every religion, caste, and creed. On this day, everyone forgets their differences and hugs and colors each other. By erasing the ego and evils inside, one should paint each other with colors and forget all the differences while living with love and harmony. It should be understood that Holi is a festival of imbibing the colors of life within oneself by living together with love and brotherhood. Our social unity is strengthened by the festival of Holi.
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