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What does Indian Holi look like?

Holi is not your typical festival. you have to get your hands dirty. As a kid, it was easy to understand sticking your hands in multicolored powder and firing water guns at anyone you saw, whether it’s your mom or your neighbor.

This Indian festival of colors has become popular among my friends as well. The long list of preparations began at least a day in advance. There were several buckets filled with water balloons, the newest water gun on the market, and pigmented colors that didn’t wash off.

Of course, to become an adult, this was not enough. Holly got dirtier and dirtier. Instead of obvious options like mud and tomatoes, eggs became the ultimate weapon. I’m convinced that this will make my hair stronger and shinier.

When is Holi celebrated?

After moving to America for college, I only went to India during summer and winter vacations. Seven years passed before I celebrated the festival I cherished growing up. Technically, Holi falls on the last full moon of the Hindu calendar months that mark spring from February to his March.

However, Utah’s color run follows the Gregorian calendar. Hannah Brown told us about her experience at one such event hosted by Brigham Young University in 2018.

“There’s something about the excitement of being covered in colorful chalk that makes Color Run the best,” she told me in an email. .”

She loves color runs, but admitted that events rarely reflect Indian traditions. Her experience was comparable to mine, but when she recently visited New Delhi, I delved into what a two-day Holi celebration means to my family.

Children color each other as they celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 in Jammu, India.

Channi Anand, Associated Press

What is Holi and why is it celebrated?

After all, preparations begin not the day before, but over a month during Vasant Panchami, another festival that ushers in spring. Big tree logs, tree branches, twigs and dead leaves were collected and explained by my grandmother Maya in Hindi.

Beneath this combustible are the statues of Holika and Prahlad. The story of the numbers continues as follows: The evil king had a son he named Prahlad. The kind-hearted son refused to accept his father as a god, infuriating the king. In an attempt to drive Prahlad away, he pushed him off a cliff and threw him into a snake pit, but his son’s prayers to Lord Vish always protected him.

The king asked his sister Holika what he should do. She built herself a huge bonfire and stepped her foot into it, challenging Prahlad as well. Holika thought she was safe because she had magical powers, but Lord Vish was now watching over Prahlad, so her powers were given to him instead. The king’s son stood in the fire and was completely unharmed. He was demonstrating the triumph of good over evil.

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Indian revelers with colored powder on their faces dance to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Prayagraj, northern Uttar Pradesh, India, on Thursday, March 9, 2023. .

Rajesh Kumar Singh, Associated Press

What are the two days of Holi like?

That bonfire is customary the day before Holi, known as Holika Dahan or Choti Holi. This afternoon, her Aunt Jyoti took me to a ceremony held in a small playground behind our local temple in Vasant Kunj, South Delhi. Dressed in her patterned salware kameez, she carried an offering griddle consisting of raw milk, ghoul (unrefined sugar), turmeric, rice, flour, raw cotton thread, and red kumkum flour. and gold cloth.

We stopped in front of two women selling cow dung wreaths and wheat straws, which are sacred and known to purify the air, and gave them a 20 rupee note to purchase these items. rice field. Jyoti took off her slippers and chose her spot in front of a large unlit bonfire that gave off a rotten smell. They began the ritual by wishing each other a happy Holi.

After praying, Jyoti got up and went around the prepared bonfire five times. This was an auspicious number of times, a drop of milk spilling out of the steel cup every other step. We got home and she told me what to do next. “The bonfire will burn tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Get ready,” she said.

The air was rustling, though the day of Holi had not yet come. Passers-by were walking around with brightly colored powder on their faces.

Then evening came. My grandmother and aunt walked into the same spot as me just in time. One older child shouted, “Pollution!” Pointing to an angry cloud of smoke.

As it simmered, everyone walked around the fire chanting mantras dedicated to Hindu deities.

“This festival signifies a change in weather, so people pray to the gods for the safety of their children and livestock,” Maya told me. “And Holi is played in celebration.”Although it is also known as Lord Krishna’s favorite festival, different myths and traditions are prescribed in different parts of India. As in Odisha, Dora is celebrated instead of Holi, and Jagannath, another god of his in Hinduism.

What is it like to play Holi?

The next morning, I dabbed coconut oil all over my body to keep the Holi color from sticking to my skin for days and went to see my two cousins, ages 5 and 8. I filled up water balloons for them.

After helping them stock up on spare colors, water balloons, and squirt guns, we marched to the park and scanned the victims. “I’ll take it all!” said the young one. The two children found other children their age to play with, painting the streets in shades of yellow, pink and green.

My cousins ​​knew it was time to go home – at least for a little while – after supplies had run out and they were in water from head to toe. I sent them off with their parents and wished the rest of the family happy Holi by gently rubbing them on their faces and to my own friends at an event at his nearby five-star hotel, The Grand. I left to meet you.

Wearing a ragged white shirt that was no longer white, I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen in years. A big festival like this always has friends and foes together. We danced to Hindi songs and played with unfamiliar faces.

Singing the old Bollywood song “Rang Barse Bheege Chunarwali” means “The girl in the scarf is drenched in light blue.”

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Young girl covered in colors exchanging sweets in houses, parks and streets in green, yellow and red colors celebrating Holi, a festival of colors in the streets of Guwahati, India, Wednesday, March 8, 2023 To do. Two years later, freed from masks and other COVID-19 restrictions, they also drenched each other in colored water.

Anupam Nath, Associated Press



https://www.deseret.com/faith/2023/3/11/23630465/what-is-holi-about What does Indian Holi look like?

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