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HOLI HAI ! ! !
Holi should actually be called the "Dol Yatra", or the "Dol Poornima", if one wants to stick to the authentic scriptures of
the Puranas. "Dol" refers to the swinging of Lord Krishna with his heavenly beloved Radhika (Radha), encircled by the 'Gopas'
and the 'Gopinis' (the male and female inhabitants of Vrindavan, where Shri Krishna resided thousands of years back). Every
year, on this full-moon night, the Lord romantically swang with Radha in the swing, decorated with beautiful wild flowers and
leaves, the Gopas and the Gopinis were busy smearing colours to each other, and to the Lord and His concert, in a heavenly
jovial mood. It was spring time, and the full-moon night ("Poornima") of the month of 'Phalguna'. Adorned with the smeared
colors, the yellow attire, the garland of flowers, the ornaments of gold and the peacock-feather in the golden crown, Lord
Krishna, along with Radha, as if, defamed the beauty of a thousand 'Kamadeva'-s (the Hindu God of love and beauty).
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...It's Holi, the vibrant festival of colors!! Holi - the word was originally hori or happiness in Brajbhasha, a dialect
derived from the Sanskrit language. In fact, in Braj, people still call Holi, Hori.
Celebrated in March or April
according to the Hindu calendar, Holi was meant to welcome the Spring and win the blessings of the Gods for good harvests and
fertility of the land. Holi is also a festival of romance often represented by the love-play of Radha and Krishna. This is
also the time to invoke and worship 'Kamadeva', the counterpart of Eros and Cupid. Brij Holi is famous all over the world
for its gaiety in spirit.
Holi is all about having fun, playing with color and getting doped, all with the permission of the Gods! Add to the
celebrations by sending your friends and family warm and bright wishes through our collection of free online greeting cards.
Holi in the past was played with colors that were made from herbal sources. These colors did act as antiseptic prevention to
many deadly diseases like pox etc., which were prevalent during spring time. The present-day colors are nothing but strong,
crude chemicals, which can both be harmful, as well as deadly, in many cases.
There are many stories of the origin of Holi. The most widely held belief is that, Holi marks the day when the devotee of
Lord Vishnu, Bhakt Prahlaad, seated on the lap of demoness Holika, was saved from the effect of the fire by God and the
demoness got burnt instead. Other stories relate to the death of demoness Putana at the hands of Lord Krishna and to the
burning of demoness Hoda by children. Some link the festival with the worship of Karma (the effects of a person's actions
that determine his destiny in his next incarnation).
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