HOLI DREAM OF HARMONYVOLUME #01© 2010 by Seah Kai Ling

® All rights reserved. No part of this book may be produced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. I apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

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04 LEGEND06 CELEBRATION10 SIGNIFICANCE14 CALENDER16 AROUND THE WORLD18 COLOR

LEGENDThe colorful festival bridges the social gap and

renew sweet relationships.

P. / 04 Holi Festival - a fun-filled and popular occasion in the northern part of India.

It is an occasion where people smear each other with bright colored powders, which are known as Gulal, and colored water. This festival is celebrated around early March each year. It can be said that ‘Holi’ festival is called a bright festival as a wide range of bright colors are used during this festive season. The people believed that the bright colors represent energy, life, and joy.

There are many legends given as the reason for celebrating ‘Holi’. There is one popular legend that is reputed to bring about the birth of ‘Holi’. It seems that long ago there was an evil king named King Hiranyakasipu. His son, prince Prahlad however was very holy and often prayed to God and this infuriated his father. One day, the wicked king ordered his sister, the demon Holika, to kill his son. The demon Holika, who was immune to fire, captured prince Prahlad and entered a fire furnace. She had done this to kill the prince,

however it was her who was burnt to ashes. Prince Prahlad was safe and was not burnt at all. The legend goes that before the demon aunt died, she begged for prince Prahlad’s forgiveness and the prince forgave her and announced that her name would be remembered once a year.

Thus the festival ‘Holi’ was created. There is another popular legend given as the reason for celebrating ‘Holi’. Holi is celebrated in memory of the immortal love of Lord Krishna and Radha. The young Krishna would complain to his mother Yashoda about why Radha was so fair and he is so dark. Yashoda advised him to apply color on Radha’s face and see how her complexion would change. In the legends of Krishna as a youth he is depicted playing all sorts of pranks with the gopis or cowgirls. One prank was to throw colored powder all over them. So at Holi, images of Krishna and his consort Radha are often carried through the streets.

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THE COLORFUL FESTIVAL OF HOLI IS CELEBRATED ON PHALGUN PURNIMA WHICH COMES IN FEBRUARY END OR EARLY MARCH. HOLI FESTIVAL HAS AN ANCIENT ORIGIN AND CELEBRATES THE TRIUMPH OF ‘GOOD’OVER ‘BAD’.

CELEBRATION

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On this day, people hug and wish each other ‘Happy Holi’.

To start off the festival, preparations are usually made on the eve of Holi: huge bonfires are burnt as a symbol of its representation. These fires are created to ward off evil

spirits around the place. ‘Holi’ is grandly celebrated in villages around Mathura, the place where Krishna is said to be borned. Before the start of the festival, shops are busy selling ‘Gulal,’ the colored powders. In preparation for the festival, new clothes are also bought for the family: it is a tradition for mothers to buy new clothes for their married daughters. On ‘Holi’, mothers let their children go out on the streets to indulge in the splashing of colors. Men like to wear white ‘Kurtas’ while ladies prefer to wear white saris, or ‘Salwar Khameez,’ on ‘Holi’. One thing that is very attractive about this festival is the spirit of the people who celebrate the occasion. Whether they are young or old, all the people are lost in the joyful occasion, having fun throwing colors at each other. Even water balloons would be thrown at each other. When they splash colored water on passer-bys, it is common for the passer-bys to get involved in the color riots themselves. Even kids love this festival, as they enjoy being drenched in colored water. On this happy occasion, dances and folk songs are also important features in the festival.

Delhi

Andhra Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh Celebrated in different parts of India

Haryana

Madhya Pradesh

DelhiBihar

Barsana Bhil Tribes“ “

SIGNIFICANCE

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Ranging from socio-cultural, religious to biological there is every reason why we must heartily enjoy the festival and cherish the reasons for its celebrations.

From the legend of how this festival came about, to how it was being celebrated, we

can conclude a few significances of how ‘Holi Festival’ brings about certain values that we should all impart into our lives. Mythological significance about how Lord Krishna felt inferior about Radha’s fair beauty wheareas he is so dark and tan. Lord Krishna’s mother advised him to apply color on Radha’s face and see how her complexion would change. This clearly shows how the color on our skin makes a difference in the eyes of others. Thus, social discrimination exists, not only in India’s context, but also all around the world. Culture significance reassures the people of the power of truth, as the moral of the legends is the ultimate victory of good over evil. Holi helps the people to believe in the virtue of being truthful and honest and also to fight away the evil.Social Significance of Holi helps to bring the society together and strengthen the secular fabric of our country. Non-Hindus celebrate the festival as everybody like to be a part of such a colorful and joyous festival.

Non-Hindus celebrate the festival as everybody like to be a part of such a colorful and joyous festival. Enemies turn friends on Holi and forget any feeling of hardship that may be present. In the evening people visit friends and relatives and exchange gifts, sweets and greetings. This helps in revitalizing relationships and strengthening emotional bonds between people. Biological significance of Holi comes at a time of the year when people have a tendency to feel sleepy and lazy. To counteract this tardiness of the body, people sing loudly or even speak loudly which helps to rejuvenate the system of the human body. The liquid dye or Abeer penetrates the body and enters into the pores. It has the effect of strengthening the ions in the body and adds health and beauty to it. Colors are said to have great impact on our body and our health. Western physicians and doctors believe that for a healthy body, colors have an important place besides the other vital elements. Deficiency of a particular color

in our body causes ailment, which can be cured only after supplementing the body with that particular color. From the festival and its significance within, we can easily conclude the differences in the social and cultural aspects present in India. First of all, we must all be aware of the different social classes and status of Indians that exist in India itself. Differences between social structures in the north and the south of India are the most obvious. North Indians tend to look down on the South because of their dark skin. Apparently fair skin is a sign of beauty in their part of the world and South Indians look down on the North for not having as much education. Religious differences can be significant, especially between the Hindu majority and the large Muslim minority. Access to wealth and power varies considerably, and vast differences in socioeconomic status are evident everywhere.

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gender inequality

differences in culture & religion

difference in social status

poverty

illiteracy

rich vs poor

P. / 13“ Holi is a time to reach out with the colors of joy. It is the time to love and forgive. It is the time to express the happiness of being loved and to be loved through colors.”

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CALENDERHoli is the first major Hindu Festival of the year.

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AROUND THE WORLD

P. / 16 Holi knows no bars, Holi knows no boundaries

Across the world wherever Indians or people of Indian origin are present Holi is celebrated with gusto and bonhomie. People play

with colours, light a bonfire called Holika and celebrate the victory of good over evil.The essence of any festival is to take a break from the daily humdrum of life and make it interesting. The other major intention of celebrating festival is to bring people together and generate a feeling of brotherhood and spread harmony all around.Nobody realizes the importance of celebrating festivals than the Indians settled abroad away from their country and cultural roots. At times they are more eager to celebrate festivals than their Indian counterparts. For celebrating festivals is what binds the people of Indian origin together and also to their roots.Just as in India, people settled abroad meet their friends and exchange sweets and greetings. Of course, the revelry is no less when it comes to colours.

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USA

UK

NEPAL

SOUTH AFRICA

BANGLADESH

PAKISTAN

COLOR

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Colours are the most joyous part of the Holi celebrations. They add life and vitality to the festival making it most vibrant of all.

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Spirit of HoliThe sight of Holi is so beautiful to watch; as the entire atmosphere gets filled with the clouds of colours...And, as if to match with the cheerful mood of the people nature itself wears its best and most colourful clothes. The energy of the people as they move out in groups, playing dholaks, singing songs in their highest possible pitch; completly drenched in colours but more so in the spirit of Holi - throwing gulal and abeer in the air and on the feet of their elders as a mark of respect- it is this spirit of the festival that makes it so delightful and memorable.

Colorful LegendThe legend from which the tradition of playing colours started is full of colours in itself. The story goes that the very colourful Indian god, Lord Krishna was jealous of his soul mate Radha’s fair complexion, since he himself was very dark. Naughty young Krishna complained to his mother Yashoda about this injustice of nature. To placate the child, doting mother asked Krishna to apply colour on Radha’s face and change her complexion according to his choice. Playful and mischievous Krishna appreciated the idea and implemented it. The game of applying colours thus gained so much popularity that it became a tradition and later it turned out to be a full fledged festival. Till date, lovers desired to colour and be coloured by their mates. The application of colours has in a way become an expression of love.

Holi CelebrationsThe festival of colours is extremely popular amongst children. They eagerly wait for a prey with a bucket full of colour water, an ever ready water jet- popularly called a pichkari and loads of colour packets to give vent to their mischief nature. Rather, the festival is not confined to any age group for old, young and kids everybody turns as naughty as the other on the day. Play with colour continues till every inch of all participants is coloured and the person becomes virtually unrecognizable. The spirit of the festivities knows no bound particularly in houses which witness the arrival of a new bride. For everybody wishes to play Holi with her. At some places there is a tradition in which the first Holi after marriage is played in the brides maternal house. There too, the enthusiasm for Holi is at its peak.In modern day colonies, people move out in groups, called tolis visiting one house from the other, forcefully colouring the shy ones and exchanging greetings.

Holi Knows No BarsWhen it comes to Holi, hair are let loose and no restrictions hold. People open up themselves and enjoy the festival to the hilt. The tradition of consuming bhang too escalates the level of enthusiasm.It is a real fun to watch the otherwise always sober people making a clown of themselves. Singing songs at a high pitch and playing practical jokes on others. For, the rule of the day is, ‘Bura na mano Holi hai’. (please don’t take any offence for it is Holi).At some places Holi parties are also organised where the colour and water flows endlessly. Till everybody becomes one like nature in the season of HOLI-FULL OF COLORS AND LIFE.