Myths and Facts Associated with Holi Celebration

The festival of colors, Holi, is an honour to the arrival of spring season. It is a season of extreme weather condition, which is generally considered good for crops. The color of spring is depicted by greenery everywhere that further signifies growth as well as rejuvenation. All these can be clearly seen in the Holi festival. There are various myths and facts related to the celebration.

One of the myths associated with this is of the Kamadeva. It is believed that Lord Shiva opened his third eye to incinerate the God of Love, Kamadeva. For this reason, many people offer mango blossoms together with sandalwood paste on this day.

The practice of throwing cow-dung into the fire saying all slangs as if were spoken to Holika who was sent to kill Prahlad. She was blessed with a spell of staying unharmed while walking through fire. However, this spell was only applicable when she walked alone. Prahlad who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu when denied worshiping King Hiranyakashipu, brother of Holika, was sent into fire along with her where he only came out unharmed due to his prayers. All discussed above are popular myths linked with the Holi festival.

But the real fact related to the Holi celebration is the Radha-Krishna love play and of course, the story of Prahlad who was saved because of his great faith in Lord Vishnu. It is celebrated with pomp and show throughout India. It is more prominent in Northern Indian territories and celebrated in the month of March on full moon day (of Phalguni). Owing to the fact, Brij-Holi of Mathura & Vrindavan is quite famous all over the world. There it is also known by names of Phagwa & Holaka due to its connections with numerous Hindu mythological events. In Bengal, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh, it is popularly celebrated as Holi Purnima commemorating the birthday of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

No matter what falls behind the picture, this colorful, delightful festival is celebrated without considering any social taboo or restriction. It spreads the message of equality asking people to forget differences that separate them socially, economically and geographically. Hence it is sometimes referred to as Holy-Day in real manner.

There are many online gift shops that assist you meet all your gifting needs of Holi occasion. These gifts help us greet Holi India in true sense.