Holi is traditionally a harvest festival. It falls in the month of Phalgun (February – March). The Holi commemorates the victory of good over evil. The story goes like that... Young Prahlada was an ardent devotee to Lord Vishnu, which was not liked by his egotistical father, Hirnakashyipu, who was the king of the land. Hirnakashyipu was an Asura. He tried many methods to kill Prahlada, but all went in vain. The king had a sister named Holika who was immune to fire. So, she took young Prahlada and entered into fire. The case became opposite, Prahlada came out unscathed from the fire and Holika was consumed by the fire. This mythological story symbolizes that whoever becomes jealous and hatred to someone and tries to harm that person, the first person who get impacted is the person who jealous and hates. The same thing happened with Holika. To commemorate that massage, we celebrate Holika Dahan every year.
The tradition of intoxication, throwing dirt on other and hurling abuses during Holi is associated with demon Dhundi. She had received several boons through intense penance. Soon, she became arrogant and started killing children and eating them. On these dreadful behaviors, Lord Shiva cursed her that she will be helpless before the pranks of young boys. One day, a few boys in an intoxicated state took on her and started hurling abuses and throwing dirt on her. The intense prank of the boys became intolerable for her and she ran away from that area. These signify that, throw all the dirtiness and wild nature (the demon Dhundi behavior) out of your heart and live happily with everyone around you.
We can see in both the stories are related to demon or Asura. The Asura is known as hoarder of wealth. They live in subterranean, and the plant grows from the beneath of the earth and come to the surface, and on harvesting it gives the food for the human, living on the earth. The harvesting signifies the killing of Asura to take the hoarding out of them and distribute among all to survive.
Hitherto, the people have burnt their negativity, thrown out the dirtiness and wildness from the heart. Now, our heart is clean for Kamdev, the god of desire and color, to take place in it; the flower of new desire has blossomed and the life has become colorful. Now, we need to celebrate and share our colorful life with others. On the day of Holi, we meet with each-other and share our happiness and food to indulge everyone in this joyous moment.
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