MEANWHILE, in India...

[Blue_Tires]

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

What is Holi?

Holi is a festival celebrated by the majority Hindu population. For centuries, every year, millions of people across India and Nepal create bonfires and cover family and friends with splashes of colored powder and water to commemorate the dawn of spring season. Some say it's an "official" declaration to replace your winter wardrobe with cool summer clothes. But this carnival of colors also celebrates love, equality, fertility and the triumph of good over evil.

The festival finds a mention in the fourth century poem Jaimini Mimansa, written by ancient Nepali scholar Jaimini. Indian king Harsha also mentions "Holikotsav" in his seventh century Sanskrit love drama "Ratnavali".


The Legend of "Holika"

As per Hindu mythology, the festival gets its name from Holika, the demon sister of evil King Hiranyakashyap. As the story goes, the powerful immortal king forbid everyone from worshiping Hindu god Vishnu, however, his own son Prahlad defied his order which enraged the king and hence, he conspired to kill his own son. The king ordered Prahlad and Holika, who was immune to fire, to sit on a pyre. To everyone's surprise, when the flames struck, Holika was burnt to death despite her immunity and Prahlad miraculously lived on. The moral of the story: Good always triumphs over evil.

Since that day, people burn a pyre of wood and cow dung, that signifies the death of Holika, and people pray that the demons of poverty, diseases and hatred, too, burn with the same flames.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514f3463444e33457a6333566d54/index.html

[dewsgirl]

1. Very cool.

[comradebillyboy]

2. Wife and I visited India about 5 years ago

We arrived during that holiday and people on the street asked if we would like to be smeared with colored powder. everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

[Shanti Mama]

3. Holi is the BEST.

I lived in South Asia for nearly 20 years and had so much fun on each Holi. In some places it has gotten a bit dangerous, like Halloween can get here, but on the whole it's just a lot of people having fun.

I miss it.