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The day is fast approaching when our streets, clothes, and faces will be filled with vivid shades of red, green, yellow, and blue. Yes, the festival of colors, or “Holi” as it is popularly known falls on Monday, the 25th of March 2024. This bright and colorful festival is wholeheartedly celebrated across India and the world over with much ado, as a triumph against evil. As the young and the old gather together and smear color powder on each other, grudges are set aside, with love and goodness taking center stage.
As human beings, we are prone to error, leading us to wrath, resentment, or hatred, all of which could act as stumbling blocks to our growth. The special day of Holi, also known as Vasant Mahotsav or Kama Mahotsav can cleanse us humans of all bad energy through help from the Divine.
On this special day, animosities are forgotten and enemies turn into friends. Everyone gathers to meet, greet, play with colors, and eat delectable food. This festival also marks the end of winter and the start of spring. People welcome spring by playing with family members and neighbors by using water balloons, squirt guns, and colorful powders, which they smear on each other’s faces and clothing. Caste, creed, and divisions are forgotten with people from diverse walks of life coming together as one.
The Astrological Significance of Holi
As is customary of the festival of color, the 25th of March or Holi falls on a full moon day, when the moon is in Leo, representing fire. However, the moon is not affected negatively, because the Sun is in Aquarius at the same time. The unique location of the Sun makes sure that everyone is filled with heavenly bliss. As we know, the two cosmic deities, the Sun which represents the soul, and the Moon which represents the Mind are what give life to Earth. As a result, the Moon, which is in Leo that represents fire, is not affected negatively on this day since the Sun shines heavenly light on everyone. The evil energies are destroyed and changed into positive ones. It is auspicious to perform Vastu Shanti Yagya, Hanuman Puja, and Lord Vishnu Puja on this day.
Holi takes place in the lunar month of Phalguna, with the Sun in the Purva Bhadrapada constellation in Aquarius and the Moon in the Purva Phalguni constellation in Leo. This location holds substantial astrological significance. The Moon which is situated in Leo, represents fire and is not negatively affected because the Sun Shines heavenly light. Owing to the Sun’s light, the evil energies are destroyed and transformed into positive ones. On Holi, it is auspicious for one to perform Vastu Shanti Yagya, Hanuman Puja, and Lord Vishnu Puja
Another significant marking is the location of the planets. Jupiter is seen as the nakshatra lord of the Sun, while Venus stands as the nakshatra lord of the Moon. Both the planets, which stand for “teacher” or “guru” represent something in the supernatural. While Jupiter represents angels or devguru, Venus represents demons or asuraguru.
The Mythological Significance of Holi
As ancient mythology would have it, there was a demon king named Hiranyakashyap who thought he was God. He would abashedly torment people if they refused to bow down and worship him. The demon king’s fury and hatred only increased when he learned of his son’s Prahalad secret devotion to Lord Vishnu. He tried to murder his son on many attempts, but the results were unsuccessful.
At this point, King Hiranyakashyap looped his sister Holika on a sinister plan. She was to enter a burning fire while holding his son Prahalad in her lap. Prahalad would burn to death, while Holika would escape since she had a cloak to protect herself from any fire unharmed. When the fire spread, the cloak flew away from Holika and covered Prahalad, keeping him alive. Later, Lord Vishnu comes as the mighty Narasimha and kills the demon king.
Holi also stands for the divine love between Lord Krishna and Radha. Smearing colors on each other has become popular due to Krishna's popular color joke played on his love interest Radha. In south India, Holi is linked to Shiva and Parvathi who wanted to bring Shiva back into the world and sought the help of a Hindu god named Kamadeva.
The Cultural Significance of Holi
The underlying truth of the tales associated with Holi intends to teach people about celebrating truth and winning over evil. The stories have been passed on from generation to generation to instill the importance of living a moral life that is pure and honest. The festival of Holi, comes as a relief, after the harsh winter months. Everything is fresh with a new lease of life and the crops usually produce a bountiful harvest. This is the reason why Holi is often associated with happiness, joy, and laughter.
Holi is celebrated for two full days. The first evening of Holi, known as Holika Dahan or Choti Holi begins on a Full Moon Day. Bonfires and effigies of Holika are burned symbolically to drive away the evil in the world. On the second day, unity and diversity are celebrated as people from all walks of life gather to smear color and water on each other.
The Social Significance of Holi
Socially, this festival focuses on merging the divide between people and bringing them together. During the time of Holi, resentment is forgiven and amends are made. Relationships with one another are forged again. Family, close friends, and neighbors all come together to have fun, share gifts, and share sweets. Visitors that come home are first teased with colors, then served with Holi delicacies like gujia, shakkarpaare, matri, or dahi-vada, desserts, and drinks. A cold beverage made from milk, sugar, and a mix of nuts like almonds, fennel seeds, watermelon kernels, rose petals, pepper, poppy seeds, cardamom, and saffron called bhang is offered to people who come home tired after the festivities. This is one of the few Hindu festivals that is celebrated by even people from other faiths, such as Jains and Sikhs.
The Scientific Significance of Holi
Scientifically, celebrating this festival has more than one benefit. The bright colors and flowers seen during Holi can stimulate the human body to renew and regenerate itself. Playing with different colours can treat our bodies for what it lacks. For instance, the color green stands for new beginnings, while yellow stands for joy and pink for love. The color red represents fertility and orange represents life itself. The color purple could refer to new possibilities. Color powder or gulal is said to have a medicinal significance as the colors are traditionally made from Kumkum, Bilva, Neem, and other medicinal herbs that have been suggested by Ayurvedic practitioners. Colors are derived from plants like sandalwood, mehendi, haldi, berries, tea leaves, and beetroot.
Also, Holi occurs during the winter-spring transformation period, during which bacteria grow both in the environment and the body. A day before the celebration, the temperature starts turning quite hot. The heat from the Holika Dahan destroys the bacteria in the body and fully cleanses it when the Parikrama (circling the fire) is completed.
Conclusion
From commemorating the bounty of spring to acknowledging a good harvest and taking part in the abundance of nature, Holi tops the list as a festival that is significant even today. The best takeaways from this festival are the insistence on resetting and renewing relationships, doing away with evil, and seeing the good in everyone and everything.
