Holi Festival brings us close to our Religion, Tradition, Culture and our mythology as it is essentially
the celebration of various legends associated with the festival.
According to story of Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap -
Foremost is the legend of
Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap. The legend
says there once lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakshyap and he is the great devotee of Lord Shiva, who
considered himself a god and wanted everybody to worship him. To his great
ire, his son, Prahlad began to worship, Lord Vishnu.
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| Lord Vishnu, as Narasimha Avatar Killing Hiranya | Kashyap |
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To get rid of his son,
Hiranyakshyap 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 for 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 colour on Radha and
other gopis. This prank of Krishna later, became a trend and a part of the
Holi festivities.
Mythology 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 Kaamadeva. According to the legend, people in
south celebrate the sacrifice of Lord of Passion Kaamadeva 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.
Social Importance - How it will progress our lives socially ?
Importance of Holi, Holi helps to bring the society together and strengthen the secular fabric of our country. For, the festival is celebrated by non-Hindus also as everybody like to be a part of such a colourful and joyous festival. This Festival has been celebrating by both Hindus and Muslim communities since so many long in some places.
Also, the tradition of the Holi is that even the enemies turn friends on Holi and forget any feeling of hardship that may be present. Besides, on this day people do not differentiate between the rich and poor and everybody celebrate the festival together with a spirit of bonhomie and brotherhood.
In the evening people visit friends and relatives and exchange gifts, sweets and greetings. This helps in revatalising relationships and strengthening emotional bonds between people.
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