Legendary Stories of Holi

Legendary Stories of Holi. As the name suggest we will learn some about some interesting stories of Holi in this blog. Holi is traditional Hindu spring festival in India. People celebrate Holi, also known as the “festival of colors,” all over the world.

People originally held Holi to pray for agricultural success and a bountiful harvest. The ritual of throwing colorful powder and water on each other originates from the practice of throwing dirt and filth into people’s homes to drive away evil spirits and purify them.

Story of Holika as one of the Legendary Stories of Holi

There was a king name Hiranyakshyapu. He was the king of daityas. He earned the boon of immortality from lord Brahma. After receiving the boon Hiranyakshyap became arrogant. He wanted everyone should have worshiped him as a god. He had a son named Pralahd. Pralhad was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. The king never liked that his son is worshipping lord Vishnu.

He made several attempts to kill Pralhad. Still, Prahlad survived. The king asked his sister Holika to help him in order to kill Pralhad. Holika was immune to fire. Holika tricked Prahlad into sitting on fire with her. Lord Vishnu intervened divinely saving Prahald. Holika sat in the fire with Prahlad covered in the same chunri in her lap, but the effect of God’s illusion was that the wind blew and the chunri flew over Holika and landed on Prahlad. Hence Prahlad was saved this way.

The tradition of burning Holika is going on a day before Holi. This whole story symbolizes the victory of good over evil. We celebrate Holi after Holika Dahan. People burn their negativity on the Holika Dahan.

Story of Radha and Krishna as one of the Legendary Stories of Holi.

Another popular story linked with the Holi is about Lord Krishna and Radha. Lord Krishna known for having a naughty nature. Once expressed to his mother about his dark skin tone in contrast to Radha’s beautiful complexion. In response krishna’s mother suggested him to color Radha’s face to match his color. This playful act of coloring the face with color and water became tradition of playing with color and water. People play Holi and apply color to their loved ones which symbolizes love, friendship and the arrival of spring.

Holi has roots in ancient Indian rituals and agricultural practices. During the fertility festival, we celebrate the arrival of spring and the blossoming of new life. On Holi farmers pray to the god for healthy harvest and performs rituals to ensure the fertility of their land.