Holi, the colorful festival of spring, is the time for fun and pranks. It is a festival to let your hair down and do what you like, say what you like, meet, tease and play with colors with the people around you. The best part is that all the offences and anger are dissolved with one boisterous shout of 'Bura na mano, holi hai!' (Don't be angry, it is Holi!), which is considered to be a part of the tradition of the merrymaking. The festival is celebrated on the full-moon day of Phalguna in North India, while it is stretched up to a week in some parts of North-east India, typically Manipur. Go through the following lines to know more about the traditions of Holi.
Customs & Traditions Of Holi Festival
According to the traditions of Holi, the people gather around on a day before the festival as we know it, is the evening of bonfires. People light up bonfires of dead leaves, twigs and wooden sticks, dance and sing around it to welcome the spring season, commemorate the saving of Prahlad (a mythical character) and burning of his wicked aunt Holika. People take embers from this holy fire to kindle their own domestic fires. In some communities, barley seeds are roasted in the fire to eat. It is believed that the yield of the upcoming harvest season can be predicted by reading the direction of the flames or the state of the roasted barley 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, when adults and kids smear colored powder on each other and splash water jets known as 'pichkaris'. Traditionally, only natural colors prepared from flowers and herbal products were used. However, today, artificial colors have taken over the herbal counterparts. 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 and purples soon wash away all the enmity and hatred amongst the festival and serves to bring the community closer.
Mouthwatering sweets and delicacies form an important part of the festival. One can relish on a wide variety of lip-smacking sweets, the most prominent being 'Gujias' (in Northern India) and 'Puran Poli' (in Maharashtra). 'Thandai' (a cool drink made by mixing almonds, spices with chilled milk and sugar) is mixed with 'bhang' (an intoxicating substance that creates an alcoholic effect for a long time, after consumption) is served during Holi, as a part of its customs. People also relish on the pakoras and vadas made of Bhang. Although the consumption of bhang is intoxicating for the body, people do consume it on Holi, to de-stress themselves and enjoy the day without worrying about the drudgery of everyday life.
