TRANSFORMATION OF VALUES THROUGH MYTHOLOGICAL FESTIVALS - HOLI Varun Katna V J

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TRANSFORMATION OF VALUES THROUGH MYTHOLOGICAL
FESTIVALS - HOLI Varun KatnaV J
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HOLI

• It is an ancient festival of colours.
• It is celebrated at the end of the winter season
  on the last full moon day of the Phalgun month.
• It celebrates victory of the good over evil.
• It teaches us to forget enmity and spread
• love in the community.

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Triumph of Good over Evil

• In ancient india, there once lived a demon king
  named Hiranyakashipu. He wanted to avenge the
  death of his younger brother by Lord Vishnu. He
  practiced severe penance and prayer for many
  years to obtain boons and gain enough power to
  kill all the Gods. Finally, Lord Brahma was
  pleased and granted the demon his wish that
  neither at day or night, any man, beast, demon or
  God could kill him with any weapon or instrument
  on earth or sky, indoors or outdoors.
  Hiranyakshipu thought he had now become
  invincible and the Supreme God. He ordered all
  idols of the Gods to be destroyed in his kingdom
  and asked everyone to worship him. The demon
  king, however, had a young son, named Prahlad.
  Prahlad was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu.
  Despite his father's order, Prahalad continued to
  pray to Vishnu. Annoyed, the king sent him to an
  ashram meant for demons children to be taught to
  worship Hiranyakashipu. But Prahlad continued
  worshipping Lord vishnu. So the demon king got
  very angry and wanted to kill his son. He ordered
  Prahlad to be thrown down from a mountain top but
  Prahlad did not even get a scratch. Frustrated,
  the king tortured Prahlad in many ways but Lord
  Vishnu saved him every time. At last he asked a
  favour from his sister Holika who, because of a
  boon, was immune to fire. They planned to burn
  Prahlad to death. A pyre was lit up and Holika
  sat on it with Prahlad in her lap. Yet, at the
  end Prahlad emerged safe and Holika was burned to
  ashes. Thus there was a triumph of Prahlad, the
  representative of good and defeat of Holika,
  the representative of evil.
• Since then the night before Holi a bonfire is
  lit to celebrate the victory of good over evil
  and is called Holika dahan.

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Holika Dahan
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A Community Festival Spreading Love

• It is believed that Lord Krishna, the king
  of the ancient city of Dwarka, popularised the
  tradition of Holi. The origin of the colour and
  fun of Holi is associated with the boyhood of
  Krishna. Krishna as a boy along with his friends
  of Gokul and Vrindavan used to play pranks on
  the village girls. During this time of the year,
  he used to drench the village girls with water
  and colors. At first it offended the girls, but
  their anger soon melted away as they were very
  fond of Krishna. Later everyone in the community
  joined in to play with colours and to have fun on
  this day. The same tradition has been carried on
  through the ages, turning it into a community
  festival of the masses spreading love and
  affection.

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Lord Krishna celebrating Holi
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Bura Na Mano Holi Hai !
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Celebrating Holi With Family
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Celebrating Holi in Community
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Reference

• Dashavatar tales by Galgotias children books.
• www.theholidayspot.com/holi/history.htm
• www.backgrounds.net
• www.hindu-blog.com
• www.theholidayindia.blogspot.com
• www.ibtimes.com

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Thank you