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Holi Festival in India
 The Spring Festival of India, Holi - is a festival of colors. Celebrated in March or April according to the Hindu calendar, it was meant to welcome the Spring and win the blessings of Gods for good harvests and fertility of the land. Holi 2007 will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 03rd. As with all the hindu festivals, there are many interesting legends attached to Holi, the most popular being that of Prince Prahlad, who was a devout follower of Lord Vishnu. It is the second most important festival of
India
after Diwali. Holi in India, is a festival of fun and frolic and has been associated with the immortal love of
Krishna
and Radha. The exuberance and the festivity of the season is remarkable.
Unlike all the other festivals of
India
, hindu holi festival is one such festival where one can put down the social taboos and indulge in the intoxicating drinks and sweets prepared by using opium. It is a festival of romance often represented by the love-play of Radha and
Krishna
. Brij Holi is famous all over the world for its gaeity in spirit. Each year, young and old, men and women, all indulge themselves in the spirit of colors and for once forget the social taboos. There are mouthwatering delicacies to savor such as 'Gujhias' and 'Papris' and there are interesting traditions and customs of Holi that have their own regional variances. We will also talk about making natural and healthy colors and safety precautions that one must take to enjoy Holi.
Holi is one of the major festivals of
India
and is celebrated in most of the states of
India
. However, each region has its own variations of Holi with a large local influence. Let's take a look at how Holi is celebrated in different states and regions of
India
:
North India:
Lord Krishna spent most of his childhood in
Mathura
and Vrindavana. He was the one to introduce the modern form of Holi and thus Holi is celebrated with great enthusiasm at these places for about a week. Situated in Uttar Pradesh, all the major temples of the region dedicated to
Krishna
and Radha celebrate Holi on a different day. In these parts celebrating Holi means getting drenched with colored water during these celebrations is considered to be a blessing from god and is considered auspicious. Since Radha belonged to Barsana while
Krishna
belonged to Nandagaon, on the day of Holi, men from Nandagaon go to Barsana to celebrate Holi with the women there. The playful teasing of women and attempts to color them with 'gulal' and wet colors from 'pichkari' is returned by them by attempts to escape and beating the men with sticks to scamper them away.
Haryana:
In Haryana, the brides of the Hindu undivided families hang a pot of buttermilk high up in the streets as a challenge to their brother-in-laws, who try to get ot break the pot by forming a human pyramid to reach it. Women try to stop them by beating them with their saris rolled up as ropes. This mock-drama is staged to commemorate the playful pranks of child
Krishna
, who would steal milk, butter and curd from the cow maids' houses. In the evening, the brother-in-laws bring sweetmeats for the women of the house for their contribution in keeping the family united.
Western India:
Like Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat also has mock-drama of
Krishna
trying to break the pots and steal the butter. Besides, the men of these states take out a grand procession while soaked with colored water as they walk through the streets to make a mock alert call to ask people and women of the house to take care of their pots of butter and milk as
Krishna
may come in and steal them.
 Eastern India
In Bengal, Holi is called Dol Yatra (the Swing Festival) in which idols of
Krishna
and Radha are placed on swings and devotees take turns to swing them. Women perform devotional songs and dances around the swing as men spray colored water and 'Abeer' (colored powder) on them. However, the tradition is being lost in the modern wave and people play with colored water and powders in the morning and then take out processions on the streets with music and drums while stained with Holi colors. Orissa has similar traditions as Bengal except for the fact that the idols of Jagannath is placed on the swing here instead of Krishna and Radha, who is believed to be another form of
Krishna
.
Rabindranath Tagore, the Noble laureate from India, revived Holi as the Spring festival by introducing 'Vasanta Utsav' in his Shantiniketan or Bishwabharati University, which is celebrated in a very special way. Students and youths dress up in bright colorful dresses such as yellow and stage a number of cultural programs involving group choreography, songs and dance followed by playing Holi with 'Abeer' (colored powder). Today, Vasanta Utsav has become an important part of the Bengali culture.
North East:
Holi is a six-day long in Manipur and commences on the full moon day of Phalguna. In the 18th century, it merged with the traditional and centuries-old Yaosang festival of Manipur. In earlier times, there were folk songs and dance performances under the moonlight accompanied by the indigenous drums. Today, modern musical instruments have replaced the drums and fluorescent lamps have replaced the moonlight. Days before, people collect money from the community for the expenses on the festivities. A thatched hut of hay, twigs and sticks is built, only to be set ablaze. Next morning, groups of boys go to play 'gulal' with the girls and pay them money to get the favor. Devotees play 'gulal', sing devotional songs and dance in front of the
Krishna
temple dressed in the traditional white and yellow turban. On the last day of the festival, a grand procession is taken out to the main
Krishna
temple in the capital of Manipur, Imphal where multitude of cultural programs take place.
Dry Holi colors known as 'Gulal' and wet colors or 'Rang' were originally prepared naturally from the flowers and other products that had dyeing properties. However with time, in the quest of more long-lasting and strong colors, chemically enhanced and artificial colors have come in vogue. The harmful effects of these chemicals on our body and eyes have forced us to do a turn-about to the natural colors. However, you certainly don't need to disappoint as one can create beautiful reds, greens, blues, saffrons, yellows and magentas at home and that too naturally.
These natural holi colors are perfectly safe and do not cause any harm to skin or to the face. Also there is no trouble if these colors go into the eye and are also easy to take off after playing a good spirited Holi festival. Here we have provided some eazy steps for preparing these colors as most of the time the colors or gulal that you will buy from the market is goin to be made up of the artificial material. So make these holi rang and enjoy using them with your friends and family.
 CUSTOMS OF HOLI
Holi is the festival of Spring, the festival of romance, the festival of the triumph of good over evil, a festival of colors and festival of fun and pranks. It is a festival to shake off the shackles of what is to be done and what is not to be done for once and loosen up a bit. It is a festival to let your hair down and do what you like, say what you like and meet and tease anybody you like. The best part is that all the offences and anger gets dissolved with one boisterous shout of 'Bura na mano, holi hai!' (Don't be angry, its Holi!) this shout is considered to be a part of the long tradition of the festival of Holi. The festival is celebrated on the full-moon day of Phalguna, though it stretched up to a week in Northern India and six-day long in Manipur. As the tradition goes all the people gather around on a day before the Holi as we know it, it is the evening of bonfires. People light up bonfires of dead leaves, twigs and sticks and people dance and sing around it to welcome the Spring and commemorate the saving of Prahlad and burning of his wicked aunt Holika. People take embers from this holy fire to rekindle their own domestic fires.
In some communities, people roast barley seeds in the fire to eat and it is believed that the yield of the coming harvest season can be predicted by reading the direction of the flames or the state of the roasted seeds.
The ashes of the Holi fire are believed to have some medicinal properties. Next morning, it is 'Dhuledi' or the main festival of colors where adults and kids alike splash each other with colored powder and water jets known as 'pichkaris'. Traditionally, only natural colors prepared from flowers and herbal products were used but today, artificial colors have taken over. Now people often use colored foams and balloons filled with colored water to pop-up at anybody they can play prank upon. The color frenzy of oranges and reds, greens and blues, purples and blacks soon wash away all the enmity and hatred amongst the festival and serves to bring the community closer. Holi sweets and delicacies are an important part of the festival as one can relish 'Gujhias' in Northern India and 'Puran Poli' in Maharashtra. 'Thandai' (a cool drink of milk) mixed with 'bhang' (an intoxicating substance) is to be beware of, as it is very common during Holi.
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