Holi Dahan Festival Puja and its Benefits

Holi- Celebrating the victory of good over evil India, a country full of diverse and rich cultures and traditions, celebrates various festivals with grandeur. One such popular and most celebrated festival all over India is Holi.

The festival of Holi is celebrated every year by the Hindus in the month of Falgun (March) on a full moon day towards the end of winters. This festival is celebrated with huge enthusiasm and high spirit for two consecutive days. This year Holi would be celebrated on the March 20th 2019 and March 21st 2019 respectively.

Holika Dahan: The first day of Holi is known as the Holika Dahan which symbolizes triumph of good over evil. The timings of Holika Dhahan vary each year. This is an ancient ritual that has been followed and carried forward even today. The Holika Dahan is performed on the Purnima Tithi (period) at a specific time known as the Muhurat (auspicious time). As per the ancient scriptures, Pradosh Kaal is the ideal time to perform Holika Dahan. It is said that Holika Dahan must not be performed until the Bhadra Tithi. Also, the time to perform this ritual too varies from state to state all over in India.

The timing for Holika Dahan 2019 is 08:55 PM to 09.11 PM. The Holika Dahan is performed in order to celebrate the death of Holika (demon), who was burnt to death with by Lord Vishnu. During the Holika Dahan festival, people gather together, make a bonfire and perform rituals in front of the bonfire. Offerings are put in the fire and people take circles around the bonfire and pray that their inner evil too burns and the children and the other family members stay healthy and keep away from them all types of evils.

Holi: The second day is known as Holi or Rang Panchami which is a festival of colours. This festival is celebrated all over India and few other countries. Holi is also known as the festival of Love. On this day people along with their friends and family gather together and drench each other with colours. Apart from powdered colours, water guns and water-filled balloons also used to play. Holy is a festival that brings everyone together people come on streets and play with each other irrespective of caste, colour, and religion. In some regions of India the Rang Panchami is played for two days and delicious meals are prepared and friends and relatives are invited to have meal together.

Mythological Significance of Holy: According to the famous legend as mentioned in Bhagavata Purana, chapter 7, there once lived a powerful demonic king named Hiranyakshyap. King Hiranyakashyap had earned a boon that he could not be killed by a human being or by an animal. He cannot be killed indoors nor outdoors, neither at day nor at night, Nor can astras (projectile weapons) kill him, nor the shastras (handheld weapons), also, he could neither be killed on land nor in water or in air. Because of this Demon King Hiranyakashipu grew arrogant. He thought himself to be God and demanded that everyone must only worship him and no other deity. However, his own son Prahlada did not agree to this as he was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. King Hiranyakashyap could not tolerate the fact that his own son worshipped Lord Vishnu and this made him furious. Prahlada was subjected to cruel punishments but none of them affected him.

Finally, Prahlada's was tricked by his evil aunt Holika into sitting on a pyre with her. Demon Holika wore a cape that would protect her from burning and cause her no injury, while Prahlada was unguarded. As the fire roared, the cape that Holika had worn flew and encased Prahlada. Thus, Holika burned and Prahlada was saved. After sometime Lord Vishnu appeared in the form of Narasimha - half human and half lion, at dusk (when it was neither day nor night), he took Hiranyakashyapu at the doorstep (which was neither indoors nor outdoors), Lord Narsimha than placed Hiranyakashyapu on his lap (which was neither land, water nor air), and then killed the king with his lion claws (which were neither a handheld weapon nor a launched weapon.

Apart from being just a festival, Holi also teaches us to be humble, and strengthens every relationship. Thus, this auspicious festival teaches us to live together and spread the joy of happiness and love amongst one and all.