PHAGWAH SHUBH! HAPPY PHAGWAH!

By:PATDIAL

Guyanaisoneofthefew countriesintheworldwhere festivals ranging from the very ancient to the c o n t e m p o r a r y a r e celebrated. Phagwah is one suchfestivaldatingfromthe BronzeAgeandisassociated with the Hindu religion This year it is celebrated on Tuesday,7thMarch.

Like all very ancient festivals, various traditions become attached to them overthecenturiesandinthis offering we will touch on three which have become attached to Phagwah. The first is that it is a Spring Festival.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the cold of winter would have receded by March/April and life begins anew The trees and other vegetation and the birdsandanimalswhichhad been hibernating during winterspringtolife.

Farmers are now able to plough, sow and harvest. Many ancient civilizations actuallydatetheirNewYear fromthistimeofrenewaland ancient India as well as Persia with its Now Roz did so. In ancient Rome also, their New Year began in March. This is a season of entertaining, festivity and relaxation and Phagwah has continuedinthattradition.

Phagwah is known by two names - Phagwah and Holi: ThewordPhagwahis associatedwiththemonthof Phalgun, the month of fruitfulnessandSpring. The wordHoli,ontheotherhand, is associated with religious teaching and emphasizes that good will always triumph over evil and truth over untruth: Hiranya Kasipuwasakinginancient India. By very stringent penance, he was able to achieve supernatural powers, until God Himself,

Lord Vishnu, recognized him and offered him three boonsofhischoice.

The boons granted him werethathecouldnotdieor be killed at either day or night; that neither man nor animal could kill him; and thathecouldneverdieorbe killed on earth. Hiranya Kasipu now felt that he was immortal, became a cruel megalomaniac and soon claimed that he was God himself. He accordingly ordered all his subjects to worship him as God on the painofdeathiftheydidnot, and his icons were placed in all the temples The population became completely enshrouded in fearandlostallhope.Atthis point, Prahalad, the king’s young son and heir publicly declared that his father was not God and that he would continue to worship Lord Vishnu.

The citizenry were buoyed up with a new hope and the king decided that Prahaladmustbeeliminated. He therefore built a huge pyre and ordered his sister, Holika, who was a witch whomfirecouldnotharm,to takeholdofPrahaladandsit onthepyre.

It was then lit and burnt all night. Next morning, Prahalad was seen standing amongthecindersunharmed whileHolikahadbeenburnt to ashes. The population broke into spontaneous rejoicingandbegandancing, singing and sprinkling each other with coloured water and named the day Holi, whichcametobecelebrated as the triumph of good over evilandtruthoveruntruth.

The king had now becomeenragedandwentto the main temple at worship time at dusk and strutted about shouting that he was Godandthathewoulddefeat anyotherclaiminghimselfto be God. In his rage, he struck one of the pillars of the temple with his sword a n d u n e x p e c t e d l y Narsingha, Lord Vishnu in the form of a man-lion, appeared and the king immediately attacked him. Astheystruggled,theycame tothedoorofthetempleand fell to the steps. Narsingha managed to get hold of Hiranya Kasipu by the throat, lifted him up and strangled him to death. He waskilledneitherbyManor animal; was killed at dusk which was neither night nor day; and was throttled when hewasraisedofftheground. The rejoicing at Holika’s death continued on Hiranya Kasipu’s.

A third tradition of Phagwah is that it commemorates the return of LordRamafromhis14-year exile to reassume the kingship of Ayodhya. The c i t i z e n s w e r e s o overwhelmed with joy that they lit up the streets and their homes with diyas to express their happiness and to illuminate the streets for Lord Rama and his entourage. The tradition of lightingdiyasstillpersistsin Phagwah celebrations in Guyana.

In colonial Guyana, the celebration of Phagwah was aholidayinthesugarestates and neighbouring villages. After Independence, it was declaredapublicholidayand was extended to the whole nation where it is now celebratedinallitsfacetsby all religious and ethnic groups, manifesting the growing integration of Guyanesesociety

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this n e w s p a p e r a n d i t s affiliates.)