Each & every one of us know about Holi. People call it the festival of colors, but Holi is celebrated because of certain reasons & also it plays an important part in every Hindu’s life. Holi is a two-day festival. A night before Holi, a huge bonfire is lit, which is known as Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्). Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is the integral part of the Holi festival. Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is celebrated as the burning of the demoness Holika (होलिका). Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) celebrates the beginning of the spring harvest season. Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is not just a festival; it has a deeper meaning in the Hindu religion & marks the triumph of good over evil & signify the love, power & faith of true devotion.
Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is yet another festival connected to the nature & also a legend connected to the same. Holi is a two-day festival where Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is the first day celebration & second is the celebration of the victory over evil so it is known as Holi- a festival of colors. Here Holika (होलिका) is the name of the demoness who was the sister of Hiranyakashyapu & Dahan (दहनम्) means burning, together it means burning of demoness Holika. Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is also known as Chhoti Holi (small Holi) in some parts of India. Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is celebrated on the full moon day of the Phalguna month (फाल्गुनः शुक्लपक्षे पूर्णिमा).
Coming forward to the second day festivity, Holi (होली) - Holi is the festival of love, festival of colors & festival of spring. Holi (होली) is the festival celebrated by Hindus with the colors to celebrate the victory of faith over evil. Holi (होली) is celebrated on the next day of Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) i.e., first day of the dark fortnight of the Phalguna month (फाल्गुनः कृष्णपक्षे प्रतिपदा). Holi (होली) is yet another celebration of the spring season which has its mention in the scriptures. Holi (होली) is also known as Dhuleti in Gujarat state as well as many other states. As this both festivals are connected to each other, we have combined both the festivals in one article.
Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is observed in India, Nepal & Sri Lanka. In the Indian state of West Bengal & Odisha, Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is known as Dol-yatra or Doul Jatra or Basanta-Utsav (spring festival). The most popular Holi is that of the Braj, Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandagaon & Barsana region (Uttar Pradesh), which has an association with Bhagwan Krishna. Here, the festival of Holi lasts up to sixteen days.
Significance of Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) & health benefits of Holi (होली) –
Holika- the demoness was not a demoness but, she was created to ward off all fears. She was a symbol of power, wealth & prosperity & could bestow those to her worshippers. Bhagwan Brahmaa gave her the boon that the fire will never burn her body & if this power will be misused she will bur herself in the fire. Having such a gift she misused it for helping her brother, which led her to her own destruction & because of which to get rid of the negativity from mind, body & surrounding we celebrate this festival. Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is performed to burn all that is dry & dirty to clear the path for new life in the spring.
Following the tradition when people perform Pradakshina (go around the bonfire/pyre) it has some of the scientific benefits, the heat coming from the bonfire kills the bacteria in the body & cleanses it. Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is celebrated during the end of the winter & starting of spring season. This is the time, when people get the feeling of tiredness. This is quite natural for the body to experience some tiredness because of a change in weather from cold to the heat in the atmosphere. So, when the body gets the natural heat, it relaxes the muscles & the body will feel relaxed. This natural fire also decreases the high blood pressure & cleanse the lungs. The burning of woods & cow dung cake also helps in boosting immunity. Cow dung cakes purify the air as it has an anti-pollutant & anti-radiation qualities that benefits not only human health but also the environment. Such natural bonfires work effectively as the insect repellent, detoxifying the human body, improving blood circulation & it also have the mood-enhancing properties.
Holi (होली) is played in the Spring Season, which is a period between the end of the spring & arrival of summer. During the ancient times or even now also, those people not taking a bath regularly during winter often develop some skin eruptions leading to even more severe infections. Unwanted particle accumulations on the human body are seen & the skin gets dry during winter & all these needs cleanse out. So, the science behind using natural colors like turmeric is to cleanse the body & remove such unwanted accumulation on the skin. Natural colors are used to scrub off the dry skin & heal the same.
Traditionally, Holi colors were derived from natural sources & are either in the powder or liquid form. During ancient times, people use the colours made out of plants & flowers. Such as, neem, banyan, bilva leaves are dried & used for green color. Rose, Hibiscus, pomegranate skin, etc. are used for red colors. Yellow flowers like marigold & sunflower, turmeric, bael fruit (ripen stone apple), etc. are used for yellow color. Beetroots are used for violate color. Blue hibiscus, blue bells, etc. are used for blue color. Palash flowers & orange skin are used for orange color. Palash flowers are still used on this day by some of the Hindus. Such plant-based colors help to get rid of dry skin & heals the skin thoroughly. Such natural colors were used during ancient time & these are still available & we can also make it at home. The playful pouring & throwing of colour powders made from these natural sources has a healing effect on the human body. It has the effect of strengthening the ions in the body & adds health & beauty by making the skin soft.
Nowadays people do not use natural colors, instead they use synthetic colors, which are cheaper. They usually comprise of toxic components such as lead monoxide,chromium iodine & copper sulphate, which cause rashes on the skin, allergies, pigmentation & eye irritation. Green synthetic color contains copper sulphate & can cause problems like eye allergy & temporary blindness. Red synthetic color contains mercury sulphide, which can cause skin cancer, mental retardation, paralysis & impaired vision. Purple synthetic color contains chromium iodine leading to health problems like bronchial asthma & allergies. Blue synthetic color contains Prussian blue, which can cause contract dermatitis. Silver synthetic color contains aluminium bromide which causes cancer. Black synthetic color contains lead monoxide, causing renal failure (one or both kidney failure) & learning disability.
Synthetic colors can cause serious skin diseases & clogging (blocking) of hair cuticles resulting in severe hair damage. So, it is safer & healthier to deliberately opt for herbal colors even if it is costly as nothing is costlier than our health.
Historical account of Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) –
The root of the celebration of Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) is connected to the history of Prahlad & Hiranyakashyapu. According to Shrimad Bhagwad Purana, there was a demon king named Hiranyakashyapu, who considered Bhagwan Vishnu as his mortal enemy because, Bhagwan Vishnu incarnated as Varaha avatar to kill his elder brother Hiranyaksha. Hiranyakashyapu once started meditating for pleasing Bhagwan Brahma in order to receive the boon. After few years he was able to please Bhagwan Brahma through meditation. When Bhagwan Brahma appeared in front of him & asked him for a boon, he asked for the boon that he neither be killed by any God or Goddess, nor by any human or animal, nor by any creature who takes birth through the womb, neither during the day nor at night, neither by any handheld weapon nor by any projectile weapon & neither inside the house nor outside the house. Bhagwan Brahma granted him this boon.
The demon king Hiranyakashyapu started believing that he was God & commanded his people to only praise & worship him. Out of fear the people stopped worshipping Gods & Goddesses & started worshipping king Hiranyakashyapu. However, his own son named Prahlad, confronted Hiranyakashyapu’s orders as he was an ardent devotee of Bhagwan Vishnu & this annoyed the king. Hiranyakashyapu thought that, if his own son will not worship him then others might get influenced by Prahlad hence, he plotted several arrangements to kill his own son Prahlad.
Hiranyakashyapu tried to kill his son by several arrangements like poisoning him, getting him crushed under giant elephant, locking him in a chamber full of venomous reptiles like snakes & pythons, thrown him from a huge mountain but every time Prahlad kept on reciting the name of Bhagwan Vishnu & he did not get killed or even injured by any of Hiranyakashyapu’s plans. Later, Hiranyakashyapu remembered that his sister who was named Holika have a boon of not getting burned in fire which she got by Bhagwan Brahma so, he approached her & asked her to sit in a pyre (bonfire) with Prahlad in her lap. As Holika had a boon that she would not be injured in a fire, she & Hiranyakashyapu thought that she will not be burned instead Prahlad will be burned to death.
However, when she sat with Prahlad in her lap, Prahlad kept reciting the name of Bhagwan Vishnu. Later, Holika was burnt while Prahlad was saved. Even thought she had a power of not getting burned by fire she did get burned in the fire because Bhagwan Brahma granted Holika the boon on with one condition that she would not use her boon for any evil task otherwise she will lose her power, but she did used her power to kill a child so she got burned to death & Bhagwan Vishnu saved his most favourite devotee Prahlad.
After all these too Hiranyakashyapu did not stop trying to kill his son Prahlad. He came up with a new plan, he told his men to heat a pillar very hot & later told Prahlad to hug that pillar. Prahlad kept on reciting Bhagwan Vishnu’s name & hugged the hot pillar & later through that pillar Bhagwan Narsimha (4th incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu) appeared. Bhagwan Narsimha had a human body with the lion face & he killed Hiranyakashyapu without using handheld weapon but with his long nails during the evening, on the threshold (the ground at the entrance to a house) as Hiranyakashyapu had a boon that not any God, nor human or animal can kill him, not even in the house or outside the house & not during the day or at the night. Thus, to celebrate the victory over evil & to get rid of the evil or any kind of negative thoughts every year Holika Dahan is celebrated.
According to the South India, especially Hyderabad, however this Dahan is celebrated as Kaama Dahan i.e., burning of the God of Love (कामदेवः) who was burned into ashes by Shiva with fire from his Third Eye. On this day a model of Kaama Deva (कामदेवः) is constructed using old dresses, grass, pot as face with eyes, nose etc. drawn with charcoal, etc. it is burned & worshipped by the devotees & on the next day Dhulandi – a festival of colours is celebrated using powdered colors & water.
Holi (होली) also celebrates the legend of Radha & Krishna, which describes an incident where Bhagwan Krishna used to play a prank by applying colour on Radha & other Gopis. This prank of Krishna later became a trend & a part of the Holi festivities. Purana also states that Holi is the celebration of the death of demoness Pootana who tried to kill infant Krishna.
Thus, there are different legends & reasons to celebrate this day in different states of India, according to their own belief. Also, none of these are wrong as all of them are stated in our Scriptures & each historical legend holds an immense place in the heart of each Hindu.
Ritual ceremony of Holika Dahan & Holi (होलिका दहनम्- होली) -
On Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) devotees keep fast by only eating puffed rice, popcorn, roasted & salted peanuts & chickpea. At evening after sunset, a huge pyre (bonfire) is created with special kinds of woods, grass, cow dung cakes, ghee & decorated it with kites. This pyre (bonfire) is to signify the victory of Prahlad’s faith over the evil thoughts of Holika & her brother Hiranyakashyapu. It marks the triumph of good over evil & helps people understand the power of true devotion.
Later, this pyre (bonfire) is worshipped by offering white powder (अबिलम्), pink powder (used in Holi festival) (गुलालम्), red turmeric powder (कुंकुमः), raw rice (अक्षतान्), popcorn, baby raw mango & sometimes puffed rice. All these things contain antibiotic & cleansing properties that can keep the environment healthy. The main purpose of offering all these things to a pyre (bonfire) is that Phalguna is the harvest of spring season & puffed rice, corn, raw mangoes are newly harvested during this season so it is offered to Fire God (अग्निदेवः) so that we get the abundance of good crop & most of the devotees do not eat mangoes until it is offered to the pyre (bonfire) during Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्).
Later, devotees’ waters the pyre (bonfire) by circumambulating (pradakshina) (प्रदक्षिणा) it 3 times or sometimes 5 times too. Offering water to the Holika (होलिका) (pyre /bonfire) while doing the pradakshina is to pray for the well-being of the family. After completing the puja ritual people eat feast made at home & withdraws from fasting. On the next day, Holi is celebrated with colors but before applying the colors to any person, Hindus first offer it to the Gods & Goddesses. People play with colours whole day & enjoy themselves.
Thus, this festival is not just about celebrating colors but, it has a deeper significance connected to the Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्). Holika Dahan (होलिका दहनम्) & Holi both festivals are so much connected to each other as the two sides of one coin. Let’s celebrate this magnificent festival to bring love, harmony, happiness, prosperity & positivity in our lives & from this year onwards may you celebrate it with the more faith & trust in your worship just like Prahlad did.
पौषः शुक्लपक्षे ०८, २०७८