The festival of colours
A colourful celebration
Holi is the Hindu festival that welcomes the Spring and celebrates the new life and energy of the season. Although Holi has religious roots, not much religious activity is involved in its celebration.
A young girl covered in paint A child enjoys Holi ©
Holi is the most energetic Indian festival, filled with fun and good humour; even the strict rules of separation between castes are abandoned.
Holi is also called 'The Festival of Colours', and people celebrate the festival by smearing each other with paint, and throwing coloured powder and dye around in an atmosphere of great good humour.
Holi is seen by some as the Hindu festival that is nearest in spirit to St. Valentine's Day.
Holi in Brief
A spring festival, usually celebrated in March
Holi also celebrates Krishna, and the legend of Holika and Prahalad
Holi is particularly celebrated in North India
Although Holi has religious roots there are few religious things to do
Distinctions of caste, class, age, and gender are suspended during Holi
A very exuberant festival, with dancing, singing, and throwing of paint
Holi features gender rivalry, with contests between men and women, and public flirting
Bonfires are lit during Holi, and food offerings are roasted
The festival is officially celebrated on the day after full moon during the month of Phalunga, which falls in February-March
During the evening of the full moon, bonfires are lit in the streets.
These bonfires not only purify the air of evil spirits, but mark the story of Holika and Prahalad.
The next day, people of all ages go into the streets for jollifications and paint-throwing.
You can get the feel of the modern festival by reading this report on Holi in Chandigarh:
It was a sunny day, offering a perfect setting for the revellers.
The festivities picked up around 10 a.m. with kids targeting passersby with their colour-filled 'gubaras' and 'pichkaris' from roof-tops and shouting 'Holi hai'.
"Soon the entire city was dominated by 'youth brigades' zipping around on their jeeps, cars and mo-bikes, with loads of colour packed on their vehicles.
Drenched in the 'Holi' spirit to the core, they spared none. Everyone coming in their way got a splash of colour either spewed by water-jets or from different shades of 'gulal'.
©Tribune India, 3 March 1999
Role reversal
Holi is a time when traditional roles and levels of status in Indian society are turned upside down.
In one part of India there is a tradition of men and women taking part in a mock battle, however one of the rules is that the men are not allowed to fight back.
Equality
A child smears powder paint over her mother's face Holi is a festival enjoyed by all castes. ©
Holi is a great leveller.
By the time everyone has been covered in paint and coloured water, it's pretty hard to see any of the normal clues as to who is what caste, or what class.
And because no-one is likely to take designer clothes out for a soaking, there's not much chance of seeing who is rich and who is poor.
Holi is a festival that's enjoyed by both high and low. Indian newspapers are likely to show pictures of ministers, even prime ministers, seriously splashed with paint.
Don't Try This at Home
During Holi celebrations in India it's possible to behave pretty outrageously.
You can throw paint at strangers, soak your friends with coloured water while saying "don't feel offended, it's Holi", and, unless you're very unlucky, no-one will be upset. (But don't try this outside India!)
The Messiest Festival
Holi is messy, there is no getting around that.
People throw powder paint (called "gulal") at each other (yes, even at complete strangers) and no-one seems to mind. The air is often bright with clouds of coloured powder.
Gold and Silver used to be popular colours with young women, but are currently unfashionable.
Pichkaris
The more gadget-minded fill water pistols or long syringes (called pichkaris) with coloured water for distance squirting. Balloons and folded paper water bombs full of coloured water are another useful weapon of fun.
Tesu
Holi colours used to be made from the flowers of the 'tesu' tree. These would be gathered from the trees, dried in the sun, and then ground up.
When this powder was mixed with water it produced an orange-red coloured fluid.
Gulal
Gulal is powdered colour, and Indian streets are bright with stalls selling powders of different colours for days before the festival.
Abeer
Abeer (small crystals of mica) is used to make sparkly colours.
Because of health fears (see below), natural colours such as mehndi, haldi, besan and maida have become popular again.
Health Warnings
In the last few years there has been much concern about gulal and abeer being mixed with dangerous material, and people becoming ill, or even blind as a result of using it.
Small bits of mica (chamkili) are used to give the 'gulal' a shine. When smeared on the face, mica and colour powder might get into the eyes and affect the cornea leading to abrasions and loss of sight.
Dr Rajvardhan Azad, National Society for the Prevention of Blindnesn, India
Another expert warned:
"Many Holi colours sold in the market are oxidized metals or industrial dyes mixed with engine oil and can have dangerous effects on the skin and eyes".
The festival of colours
A colourful celebration
Holi is the Hindu festival that welcomes the Spring and celebrates the new life and energy of the season. Although Holi has religious roots, not much religious activity is involved in its celebration.
A young girl covered in paint A child enjoys Holi ©
Holi is the most energetic Indian festival, filled with fun and good humour; even the strict rules of separation between castes are abandoned.
Holi is also called 'The Festival of Colours', and people celebrate the festival by smearing each other with paint, and throwing coloured powder and dye around in an atmosphere of great good humour.
Holi is seen by some as the Hindu festival that is nearest in spirit to St. Valentine's Day.
Holi in Brief
A spring festival, usually celebrated in March
Holi also celebrates Krishna, and the legend of Holika and Prahalad
Holi is particularly celebrated in North India
Although Holi has religious roots there are few religious things to do
Distinctions of caste, class, age, and gender are suspended during Holi
A very exuberant festival, with dancing, singing, and throwing of paint
Holi features gender rivalry, with contests between men and women, and public flirting
Bonfires are lit during Holi, and food offerings are roasted
The festival is officially celebrated on the day after full moon during the month of Phalunga, which falls in February-March
During the evening of the full moon, bonfires are lit in the streets.
These bonfires not only purify the air of evil spirits, but mark the story of Holika and Prahalad.
The next day, people of all ages go into the streets for jollifications and paint-throwing.
You can get the feel of the modern festival by reading this report on Holi in Chandigarh:
It was a sunny day, offering a perfect setting for the revellers.
The festivities picked up around 10 a.m. with kids targeting passersby with their colour-filled 'gubaras' and 'pichkaris' from roof-tops and shouting 'Holi hai'.
"Soon the entire city was dominated by 'youth brigades' zipping around on their jeeps, cars and mo-bikes, with loads of colour packed on their vehicles.
Drenched in the 'Holi' spirit to the core, they spared none. Everyone coming in their way got a splash of colour either spewed by water-jets or from different shades of 'gulal'.
©Tribune India, 3 March 1999
Role reversal
Holi is a time when traditional roles and levels of status in Indian society are turned upside down.
In one part of India there is a tradition of men and women taking part in a mock battle, however one of the rules is that the men are not allowed to fight back.
Equality
A child smears powder paint over her mother's face Holi is a festival enjoyed by all castes. ©
Holi is a great leveller.
By the time everyone has been covered in paint and coloured water, it's pretty hard to see any of the normal clues as to who is what caste, or what class.
And because no-one is likely to take designer clothes out for a soaking, there's not much chance of seeing who is rich and who is poor.
Holi is a festival that's enjoyed by both high and low. Indian newspapers are likely to show pictures of ministers, even prime ministers, seriously splashed with paint.
Don't Try This at Home
During Holi celebrations in India it's possible to behave pretty outrageously.
You can throw paint at strangers, soak your friends with coloured water while saying "don't feel offended, it's Holi", and, unless you're very unlucky, no-one will be upset. (But don't try this outside India!)
The Messiest Festival
Holi is messy, there is no getting around that.
People throw powder paint (called "gulal") at each other (yes, even at complete strangers) and no-one seems to mind. The air is often bright with clouds of coloured powder.
Gold and Silver used to be popular colours with young women, but are currently unfashionable.
Pichkaris
The more gadget-minded fill water pistols or long syringes (called pichkaris) with coloured water for distance squirting. Balloons and folded paper water bombs full of coloured water are another useful weapon of fun.
Tesu
Holi colours used to be made from the flowers of the 'tesu' tree. These would be gathered from the trees, dried in the sun, and then ground up.
When this powder was mixed with water it produced an orange-red coloured fluid.
Gulal
Gulal is powdered colour, and Indian streets are bright with stalls selling powders of different colours for days before the festival.
Abeer
Abeer (small crystals of mica) is used to make sparkly colours.
Because of health fears (see below), natural colours such as mehndi, haldi, besan and maida have become popular again.
Health Warnings
In the last few years there has been much concern about gulal and abeer being mixed with dangerous material, and people becoming ill, or even blind as a result of using it.
Small bits of mica (chamkili) are used to give the 'gulal' a shine. When smeared on the face, mica and colour powder might get into the eyes and affect the cornea leading to abrasions and loss of sight.
Dr Rajvardhan Azad, National Society for the Prevention of Blindnesn, India
Another expert warned:
"Many Holi colours sold in the market are oxidized metals or industrial dyes mixed with engine oil and can have dangerous effects on the skin and eyes".
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