Imagine a big fire on the street, but nobody is calling the fire department. Instead, people are smiling and rubbing colours on your face. This is how you celebrate Holikah Dahan, Holi Eve.
Holika Dahan celebrates the victory of good over evil. But why a bonfire? There is a story behind it….
A long time ago, there was a king named Hiranyakashyap. He wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship him like a god. His son, Prahlad, refused as he was devoted to Lord Vishnu. The King was so angry with him that he tried to kill Prahlad in many different ways. Luckily, Lord Vishnu was watching and kept saving him. The king’s sister, Holika, had a blessing that she would never be burned by fire. Together, they came up with an evil plan to kill Prahlad. Holika would sit on flaming logs and hold Prahlad in her lap so Lord Vishnu could not save him. Little did she know that her blessing only worked when she was alone. When Holika sat in the fire with Prahlad, he managed to escape while Holika died.
Today, the bonfire represents when Holika perished in the fire and Prahlad escaped. It celebrates how Lord Vishnu watches over the safety of children.
The dates for Holika Dahan and Holi changes every year according to the Hindu calendar. It is usually held after the full moon in March or April. This year it happened to be during the first week of March, so we were just in time to attend.
Holi officially started the evening of Holika Dahan. This year, it took place on the 5th of March. During the day, everybody worked together to pile up as many flammable objects as possible to use for the bonfire. There are bonfires in almost every community all over the country. In the evening, we went to one of the piles near Anju and Ravi’s house. It was huge! Even taller than me!
The ceremony for Holika Dahan included some holy men who came and sat around the pile. They chanted, offered things to the fire such as food, and threw things like flowers and coloured powder onto the huge mound. It reminded me of the Rishikesh Aarti ceremony because of the chanting and throwing things into the fire.
The pile is then wrapped with string…
and whoosh! It was set on fire.
Once the bonfire was lit, everybody went around and gently rubbed coloured powder on each others faces and said “Happy Holi!”
That was the official start to Holi and was very interesting. Just wait until you see how much fun we had the next day!
For more information, click on the link below:
www.holifestival.org/evening-of-bonfires.html
Comments
8 responses to “Holi Bonfire!”
Hi Zoe,
I’m glad that you had such a good time!!!! I love all the different colours on your faces!!!!! Great Photos!!! Love, Baba
Hi!
Just wait for part two… We had even more colours on our faces !
That certainly was a big fire Zoe! I was looking at the pictures of the offerings to the fire that were being made and noticed what looked like money in one of the bowls (next to the fruit). Was everything in the bowl thrown into the fire?
Lots of love,
Teta Helen
Hi!
No, not everything was thrown into the fire, some things were placed beside it like the money and food.
Hi, Zoe, I enjoyed your posting very much, and it reminded me of the Easter Fires in Germany. I don’t know if they are still lit. This custom also celebrates the triumph of good over evil, but it certainly was not as colourful and elaborate as the
celebration you witnessed. Love an lots of hugs
Hi!
I don’t think I have ever heard of the Easter Fires in Germany…. Do they have a ceremony?
Hi, Zoe, the Easter Fires celebrate mostly the Christ’s resurrection, the arrival of Spring, and I think they are also a leftover from the spring equinox ceremonies from ancient times (but I really don’t know) I only know from when I was a child that in the country they lit huge bon fires, but it was never such a colourful celebration.
Hi!
How long do the fires burn? The one we were at was still burning the next day!