About Holi

The festival of Holi begins on Duwadashi - on the twelfth day of the waxing moon in the month of Phalgun. Spirits run high as the preparations for the festivities begin, as a custom, mothers make new clothes for their married daughters. Coloured powder (Gulal) is bought and prepared, long syringes called 'pichkaris' are made ready and water balloons are bought and filled to squirt the coloured water on friends and relatives. Preparations are made to cook the special food items that are exclusively meant for this festival.

Holi

Amongst India's innumerable festivals, Holi ranks as the most colourful. It celebrates the arrival of spring and death of demoness Holika; it is a celebration of joy and hope. Holi provides a refreshing respite from the mundane norms as people from all walks of life enjoy themselves. In a tight knit community, it also provides a good excuse for letting off some steam and settling old scores, without causing physical injury.

Holi continues to be celebrated with great vigour through out India. Countless Hindi films have brought the vibrant colours of the festival to the screen. Indians all over the world eagerly await the Festival of Colours, as bonfires are lit to banish the cold dark nights of winter and usher in warmer spring. Dhuleti, day after Holi, is the actual festival of colours, when everything in sight is covered in a riot of colours.

The festival of Holi begins on Duwadashi - on the twelfth day of the waxing moon of the month of Phalgun. Spirits run high as the preparations for the festivities begin. As a custom, mothers stitch new clothes for their married daughters. Coloured powder (Gulal) is bought and long syringes called 'pichkaris' and balloons are made ready with water. Special food items are also prepared for the festival.

Twin towns of Nandagow (where Lord Krishna grew up) and Barsana (where Shri Radha grew up), near Mathura, are the epicentre of the celebrations. Lord Krishna, while growing up in Vraj, popularised the festival with his ingenious pranks. Gopies of Vraj responded with equal enthusiasm and the festivities have continued ever since. Role reversal, feminism etc. are accepted customs for the duration of the festival! Men and women of Vraj clash in a colourful display of battle of the sexes. Celebrations start a week earlier than rest of India. Men of Nandagow raid Barsana with hopes of raising their flag over Shri Radhikaji's temple. They receive a thunderous welcome as the women of Barsana greet them with long wooden sticks. The men are soundly beaten as they attempt to rush through town to reach the relative safety of Shri Radhikaji's temple. Men are well padded, as they are not allowed to retaliate. In this mock battle the men try their best not to be captured. Unlucky captives can be forcefully lead away, thrashed and dressed in female attire before being made to dance!! The festival moves on to other parts of Vraj. Soon enough, it is Dhulati and entire India celebrates the joys of spring as the "festival of colour". The colourful festival is celebrated in most parts of India during February-March (in the month of Phalguna according to the Hindu calendar). The celebrations vary depending on region and local traditions but the common part is exchange of colours.

According to the legend Hirankashyap was a very powerful Devil. In his fight against the Gods he had defeated the Gods and because of this he became very egoistic and had issued an order that no one should pray to God or even take the name of God. Due to fear people started praying him. His son Pralhad was a true devotee of God. He didn't obey his father's order. Hirankashyap got angry on him and order for the most rigorous punishments to him. But this did no harm to Pralhad. Hirankashyap had a sister by the name of Holika. She had been grant-

-ed a boon that fire will do no harm to her. Hirankashyap ordered Holika to take Pralhad on her lap and sit on a bed of fire. Holika was burnt in the fire and Pralhad survived with no harm done to him. As a remembrance to that event, people celebrate Holi by burning wood and pray to Goddess Holi for their well-being.

History of Holi

The Indian sky is changing - the March winds are coming in and winter begins to bow out. Holi is the festival that carries the country into the bright days of summer. A feeling of plenty is in the air - the crops have been cut, threshed and stored or sold. The farmer is at rest and money is at hand. ‘Holi’ falls on the full moon, in the month of Phalgun, which spans the end of Februry and the beginning of March on the Gregorian calendar. A time when Spring is in the air.


The legend of King Hiranyakashipu is associated with the festival of Holi. This legend signifies the victory of good over evil, of devotion surpassing ambition. King Hiranyakashipu was an ambitious ruler, one who wanted absolute power so that he would be worshipped as God. When this wish was made known, the King's own son, Prahlad, refused to obey his father. Prahlad was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, and it was only to his Lord that he gave allegiance.
The proud King was enraged by Prahlad's disobedience and decided to punish him severely. He asked his sister Holika for help. It was believed that Holika was immune to fire and would never be burnt, so the King asked Holika to sit in the centre of a bonfire with Prahlad on her lap, so that the fire could devour him. The bonfire was lit, and young Prahlad sat in Holika's lap, in its centre, praying to Lord Vishnu. His devotion saved him, leaving him untouched by the flames, but Holika was burnt to ashes. To mark this legend, huge bonfires are lit on the eve of Holi, especially in Bihar and the rest of North India.



Holi was Krishna and Radha's celebration of love - a teasing, affectionate panorama of feeling and colour. These scenes have been captured and immoratalised in the songs of Holi: the festival that is also the harbinger of the light, warm and beautiful days of Spring.

"HOLI" THE FESTIVAL OF SQUIRT AND PLAY WITH JOY

The Indian sky is changing - the March winds are coming in and winter begins to bow out. Holi is the festival that carries the country into the bright days of summer. A feeling of plenty is in the air with the crops cut, and the farmer enjoying a bountiful of harvest. 'Holi' falls on the full moon, in the month of Phalgun, which spans the end of February and the beginning of March on the Gregorian calendar. A time when spring is in the air.

This year(2008) Holi falls on 22nd March 2008.

WHAT IS SQUIRT?

Squirt can refer to the following:

* Squirt, a citrus-flavored soft drink
* Squirt, a New Zealand children's television series
* Squirt TV, public-access cable channel
* "Squirt (Fluke song)", a song by Fluke
* Sea squirt
* "Little squirt", slang for a small thing or person
* "Squirting" or "gushing", slang for female ejaculation
* "Squirting" a song on a Zune portable media player
* Squirt gun, toy water gun
* Squirt, a fictional character on the animated television series Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends
* Squirt, a comic strip in the Funday Times

Sports

* Deflection of the cue ball in billiards
* Squirt division, the under-10 level of youth ice hockey in North America
* Squirt boating