“We have to change this whole earth into a tremendous festival, and it is possible because man brings all that is needed to transform this earth into a paradise.” Rajneesh
Global Hindu Heritage Foundation is happy to inform that many of our 25 Bala Samskar Kendras celebrated Holi. They learned about the reasons behind these celebrations.
According to one legend there once lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakashipu who considered himself a god and wanted everybody to worship him. To his great ire, his son, Prahlad, began to worship Lord Vishnu. To get rid of his son, Hiranyakashipu asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap, as she had a boon to enter fire unscathed. Legend has it that Prahlad was saved for his extreme devotion to the lord while Holika paid a price for her sinister desire. The tradition of burning Holika or the 'Holika dahan' comes mainly from this legend.
Holi also celebrates the legend of Radha and Krishna which describes the extreme delight, Krishna took in applying color on Radha and other gopis. This prank of Krishna later, became a trend and a part of the Holi festivities.
Another legend also states that Holi is the celebration of death of Ogress Pootana who tried to kill infant, Krishna by feeding poisonous milk to it.
Another legend of Holi which is extremely popular in Southern India is that of Lord Shiva and Kamadeva. According to the legend, people in the south celebrate the sacrifice of Lord of Passion Kamadeva who risked his life to revoke Lord Shiva from meditation and save the world.
Also, popular is the legend of Ogress Dhundhi who used to trouble children in the kingdom of Raghu and was ultimately chased away by the pranks of the children on the day of Holi. Showing their belief in the legend, children till date play pranks and hurl abuses at the time of Holika Dahan.
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