Holi Festival

Once upon a time, there was a king named Hiranyakashyap who was ruling the earth. Hiranyakashyap had a power from Lord Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism, that he would not be killed by man or animal, at day or night, inside or outside, above or on the ground.

The king commanded everybody on the earth to worship only him. He felt very disappointed when his son, Prahlad desopeyed him and became devotee of another god called Lord Narayana.

Hiranyakashyap tried several ways to kill his son Prahlad but Lord Vishnu saved him every time. He tried to poison Prahlad but the poison turned to nectar in Prahlad’s mouth. Then, he ordered that wild elephants should trample Prahlad, but he was not hurt. He put Prahlad in a room with poisonous snakes but still nothing happened to him.

Finally, Hiranyakashyap came up with a plan to kill his son. He knew that his sister Holika had a blessing, whereby, she could enter the fire unharmed, so he asked her to enter the fire with Prahlad, so he would be burnt right away. 

Hollka made Prahlad sit on a pyre with her. She was protected by a shawl that kept her from being burnt. The shawl flew from her to Prahlad. So, Holika burned and Prahlad survived the fire. 

Lord Vishnu decided to kill the evil king and the good finally won. Thus, Holi derives its name from Holika. And, is celebrated as a festival of victory of good over evil. The modern way of celebrating it is usually with colors and people from all over the world travel to India on March 20 and 21 to enjoy the festival.

Tags:

India,     Hinduism,       Evil,     Festival, worship.