swagatam!!

According to the Hindu calendar Holi or Phagwa which is the Hindu festival of colours is celebrated in the later part of the month of Phalgun and the early part of Chaitra. This corresponds to the English months of March-April. Prahalad was the son of an evil King called Hiranyakashipu. This king tried desperately to destroy this little boy and finally resorted to an evil sister of his whose name was Holika. Holika was immune from destruction by fire. The evil king ordered Holika to take Prahalad into a huge fire so that he can be burnt to death. Prahalad's faith in God was such that Holika's powers were reduced to nought and as such she was burnt to death whilst Prahalad came out unhurt. It is because of this event, that Holika or a bonfire is burnt yearly to usher in Holi. The burning of the effigy of Holika is called Holika Dahan and depicts how a sinner got burnt in the heat of her own sins.

In the days of Emperor Raghu, there was a demoness called Dhunda. She used to kill children who were left unattended . Acting on the advice of Guru Vashishta, Emperor Raghu made and distributed wooden swords amongst the children of the kingdom. The children were instructed to make lots of noise and to shout very loudly. This Dhunda could not stand the loud noises and she eventually left and ran away. Legend has it that this happened on the same day that Holika was burnt. It is also said that Lord Shiva destroyed Kaam Deva on the day Holika was burnt and is called Madan Utsav in southern India.

In any event, this festival of colours has today extended beyond the borders of India by the Indian diaspora. Until the end of British occupancy of India hundreds of thousands of people took this festival to various parts of the globe under the indenture system, places which includes the Caribbean islands, Guyana and Surinam, Fiji, Mauritius and East Africa. In the free world those who voluntarily migrated to other parts of the world such as Europe and North America also took this part of their culture with them.