Atlanta Dunia

Holi is celebrated for many reasons...
In = days of=20 yore, there were communities of cannibals in India. They caused much = havoc. They=20 threatened the lives of many innocent people. One of them was Holika or = Putana.=20 She took immense delight in devouring children. Sri Krishna destroyed = her and=20 thus saved the little children. Even today, the effigy or figure of = Holika is=20 burnt in the fire. In South India, the clay figure of Cupid is burnt. = This is=20 the origin of the great festival of Holi.
Holi is also celebrated in = memory=20 of the immortal love of Lord Krishna and Radha. The young

Krishna would complain to his mother Yashoda about = why Radha=20 was so fair and he so dark. Yashoda advised him to apply colour on = Radha's face=20 and see how her complexion would change. In the legends of Krishna as a = youth he=20 is depicted playing all sorts of pranks with the gopis or cowgirls. One = prank=20 was to throw colored powder all over them. So at Holi, images of Krishna = and his=20 consort Radha are often carried through the streets. Holi is celebrated = with=20 =E9clat in the villages around Mathura, the birth-place of = Krishna.
It begins=20 about ten days before the full moon of the month Phalgun = (February-March), but=20 is usually only observed for the last three or four days, terminating = with the=20 full moon. This is the spring festival of the Hindus. In the spring = season all=20 the trees are filled with sweet-smelling flowers. They all proclaim the = glory=20 and everlasting beauty of God. They inspire you with hope, joy and a new = life,=20 and stir you on to find out the creator and the indweller, who is hiding = Himself=20 in these forms.

Holi is known by the name of Kamadahana in South = India,=20 the day on which Cupid was burnt by Lord Siva.

How to celebrate = Holi:

On=20 the evening of 7th March invite your friends and relatives. =

If=20 possible arrange a party in an open place such as your garden and = make=20 arrangements for a camp-fire.

(In case lighting of = camp-fire in an=20 open place is not possible, a small fire in a small urn may be lit = and=20 pooja offered to it in the confines of your home.)

Light = the=20 camp-fire and offer pooja to the fire with Haldi, Kumkum, Akshat = and=20 flowers.

The following mantra is recited while offering = pooja to=20 the fire:

vanditasi surendren = brahmna=20 shankaren cha
atastvam pahi no devi bhute bhutiprada=20 bhav

After offering pooja to the fire you should = make=20 three rounds of the fire (pradakshina) in clock-wise=20 direction.

This may be followed by dancing, singing and=20 distribution of sweets etc.

On the morning of 8th March you = should=20 call on your friends and relatives and offer them Holi greetings = by=20 applying Gulal and Kumkum on each others forehead and cheeks. It = is=20 customary for the host to offer sweets and Sharbat (fruit juice) = to the=20 guests.

Holi is a festival of fun. frolic and colours. It = is also=20 an occasion for light hearted jokes and pranks. Celebrate Holi = with your=20 loved ones keeping aside your day to day worries and = tensions

Another legend has it that once upon a time an old woman's grandchild = was to=20 be sacrificed to a female demon named Holika. A Sadhu advised that abuse = and=20 foul language would subdue Holika. The old woman collected many children = and=20 made them abuse Holika in foul language. The demon fell dead on the = ground. The=20 children then made a bonfire of her remains.

Connected to this = legend of=20 the demon Holika is Bhakta Prahlad's devotion to Lord Narayana, and his=20 subsequent escape from death at the hands of Holika. Prahlad's father,=20 Hiranyakashipu, punished him in a variety of ways to change his = devotional mind=20 and make him worldly-minded. He failed in his attempts. At last he = ordered his=20 sister, Holika, who had a boon to remain unburnt even in fire, to take = Prahlad=20 on her lap and enter into the blazing flames. Holika did so. She = vanished, but=20 Prahlad remained untouched and laughing. He was not affected by the fire = on=20 account of the Grace of Lord Narayana.

This same scene is enacted = every=20 year to remind people that those who love God shall be saved, and they = that=20 torture the devotee of God shall be reduced to ashes. When Holika was = burnt,=20 people abused her and sang the glories of the Lord and of His great = devotee,=20 Prahlad. In imitation of that, people even today use abusive language, = but=20 unfortunately forget to sing the praises of the Lord and His = devotee!

In=20 North India, people play joyfully with coloured water. The uncle = sprinkles=20 coloured water on his nephew. The niece applies coloured powder on her = aunt's=20 face. Brothers and sisters and cousins play with one = another.

Huge=20 bundles of wood are gathered and burnt at night, and everywhere one = hears shouts=20 of "Holi-ho! Holi-ho!" People stand in the streets and sprinkle coloured = water=20 on any man who passes by, be he a rich man or an officer. There is no=20 restriction on this day. It is like the April Fool's Day of the = Europeans.=20 People compose and sing special Holi songs.

On the festival day, = people=20 clean their homes, remove all dirty articles from around the house and = burn=20 them. Disease-breeding bacteria are thereby destroyed. The sanitary = condition of=20 the locality is improved. During the festival, boys dance about in the = streets.=20 People play practical jokes with passers-by. A bonfire is lit towards = the=20 conclusion of the festival. Games representing the frolics of the young = Krishna=20 take place joyously around a fire.

On the last day of Holi, = people take a=20 little fire from this bonfire to their homes. They believe that their = homes will=20 be rendered pure, and their bodies free from disease.

Nowadays, = people=20 are found indulging in all sorts of vices in the name of the Holi = festival. Some=20 drink intoxicating liquor like toddy and fall unconscious on the roads. = They=20 indulge in obscene speech as a result of drinking. They lose respect for = their=20 elders and masters. They waste their money in drink and dice-play. These = evils=20 should be totally eradicated.

Festivals like Holi have their own=20 spiritual value. Apart from the various amusements, they create faith in = God if=20 properly observed. Hindu festivals always have a spiritual significance. = They=20 wean man away from sensual pleasures and take him gradually to the = spiritual=20 path and divine communion. People perform havan and offer to the gods = the new=20 grains that are harvested.

On such holy occasions there should be = worship=20 of God, Satsangs, and Kirtan of the Lord's Names, not merely the = sprinkling of=20 coloured water and lighting of bonfires. These functions are to be = considered=20 most sacred and spent in devotional prayers, visiting holy places, = bathing in=20 sacred waters, and Satsang with great souls. Abundant charity should be = done to=20 the poor. Then only can Holi be said to have been properly celebrated. = Devotees=20 of the Lord should remember His delightful pastimes on such happy=20 occasions.

All great Hindu festivals have religious, social and = hygienic=20 elements in them. Holi is no exception. Every season has a festival of = its own.=20 Holi is the great spring festival of India. Being an agricultural = country,=20 India's two big festivals come during the harvest time when the barns = and=20 granaries of our farmers are full and they have reason to enjoy the = fruits of=20 their hard labour. The harvest season is a festive season all over the=20 world.

Man wants relaxation and change after hard work. He needs = to be=20 cheered when he is depressed on account of work and anxieties. Festivals = like=20 Holi supply him with the real food and tonic to restore his cheer and = peace of=20 mind.

The religious element in the Holi festival consists of = worship of=20 Sri Krishna. In some places it is also called the Dol Yatra. The word = dol=20 literally means "a swing". An image of Sri Krishna as a babe is placed = in a=20 little swing-cradle and decorated with flowers and painted with coloured = powders. The pure, innocent frolics of little Krishna with the merry=20 milkmaids=97the Gopis of Brindavan=97are commemorated. Devotees chant = the Name of=20 Sri Krishna and sing Holi-songs relating to the frolics of little = Krishna with=20 the Gopis.

The social element during Holi is the uniting or = "embracing"=20 of the great and the small, of the rich and the poor. It is also the = uniting of=20 equals. The festival teaches us to "let the dead bury the dead". We = should=20 forget the outgoing year's ill-feelings and begin the new year with = feelings of=20 love, sympathy, co-operation and equality with all. We should try to = feel this=20 oneness or unity with the Self also.

Holi also means "sacrifice". = Burn=20 all the impurities of the mind, such as egoism, vanity and lust, through = the=20 fire of devotion and knowledge. Ignite cosmic love, mercy, generosity,=20 selflessness, truthfulness and purity through the fire of Yogic = practice. This=20 is the real spirit of Holi. Rise from the mire of stupidity and = absurdity and=20 dive deep into the ocean of divinity.

The call of Holi is to = always keep=20 ablaze the light of God-love shining in your heart. Inner illumination = is the=20 real Holi. The spring season is the manifestation of the Lord, according = to the=20 Bhagavad Gita. Holi is said there to be His heart