{"id":6471,"date":"2024-03-22T08:38:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T08:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/22\/what-to-know-about-holi-indias-most-colorful-tradition\/"},"modified":"2024-03-22T08:38:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T08:38:39","slug":"what-to-know-about-holi-indias-most-colorful-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/22\/what-to-know-about-holi-indias-most-colorful-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Know about Holi, India\u2019s Most Colorful Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/08\/multimedia\/00xp-holi-01-gktv\/00xp-holi-01-gktv-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"What to Know about Holi, India\u2019s Most Colorful Tradition\" title=\"What to Know about Holi, India\u2019s Most Colorful Tradition\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A rainbow haze swirls through India, where raucous laughter rings out as friends and strangers douse one another with fists full of pigmented powder. Holi is a Hindu tradition, an annual celebration of spring. In 2024, crimson, emerald, indigo and saffron clouds will hover over the country on March 25 for one of its most vibrant, joyful and colorful festivals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPlaying Holi,\u201d as Indians say, is an ancient tradition that has spread far beyond India\u2019s borders. Here is what you need to know about the festival.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-6ec43cf6\">The revelry starts at sundown.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi (pronounced \u201choly\u201d), also known as the \u201cfestival of colors,\u201d starts on the evening of the full moon during the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna, which falls around February or March. It begins with the kindling of bonfires. People gather around the flames to sing, dance and pray for an evening ritual called Holika Dahan, which re-enacts the demise of a Hindu mythical demoness, Holika. All sorts of things are thrown into the fires, like wood, leaves and food, in a symbolic purge of evil and triumph of good.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From Delhi, Archie Singhal, 24, visits her family in Gujarat the day before Holi, when the fire is lit in the evening. The next morning, she prepares for the bursts of powder, called gulal, by applying oil on her body so the colors don\u2019t stick to her skin. She puts on old clothes she doesn\u2019t mind tossing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-1bd044d0\">Why the colors?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi\u2019s roots are in Hindu mythology. The god Krishna, cursed by a demon with blue skin, complained to his mother, asking why his love interest Radha is fair while he is not. His mother, Yashoda, playfully suggests that he paint Radha\u2019s face with any colors he wishes. So Krishna smears color on her so they look alike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi is in part a celebration of the love between Krishna and Radha that looks past differences. Today, some of the gulal used during Holi is synthetic. But the colors traditionally come from natural ingredients, such as dried flowers, turmeric, dried leaves, grapes, berries, beetroot and tea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere is an environment of freedom,\u201d Ms. Singhal said, adding that she doesn\u2019t hesitate to throw colors on her younger brother, parents, aunts, uncles and neighbors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-36ca54b1\">Everyone takes part.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The ancient Hindu festival eschews the religious, societal, caste and political divisions that underpin India\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/01\/world\/asia\/india-hindu-muslim-violence.html\" title=\"\">often sectarian society<\/a>. Hindu or not, anybody can be splashed with brightly colored dust, or even eggs and beer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some partake in worship, called puja, offering prayers to the gods. For others, Holi is a celebration of community. The festival gets everyone involved \u2014 including innocent passers-by.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPeople forget their misunderstandings or enmity during this occasion and again become friends,\u201d said Ratikanta Singh, 63, who writes, sometimes about Holi, in Assam, in northeastern India.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4ef1d5e5\">There\u2019s a feast.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When not throwing around gulal, friends, families and neighbors partake in a buffet of traditional dishes and drinks. They include gujiya, dumpling-like fried sweets filled with dried fruits and nuts; dahi vada, deep-fried lentil fritters served with yogurt; and kanji, a traditional drink made by fermenting carrots in water and spices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some celebrate Holi with thandai, a light green concoction of milk, rose petals, cardamom, almonds, fennel seeds and other ingredients. For thousands of years, the drink has sometimes been laced with bhang, or crushed marijuana leaves, which add to the mood of revelry.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4cfb23f9\">Holi has ancient roots.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi has been documented for centuries in Hindu texts. The tradition is observed by people young and old, particularly in Northern India and Nepal, where the mythology behind the festival originates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi also marks the harvesting of crops with the arrival of spring in India, where more than half of the population lives in rural areas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-f417e25\">Traditions vary across India.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi celebrations are as diverse as the Indian subcontinent. They are particularly wild in North India, considered the birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna, where celebrations can last more than a week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Mathura, a northern city where Krishna is said to have been born, people recreate a Hindu myth in which Krishna visits Radha to romance her, and her cowherd friends, taking offense at his advances, drive him out with sticks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the eastern state of Odisha, people hold a dayslong festival called <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/g.co\/arts\/RkVXN4rnRYj8dVrc7\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Dola Purnima<\/a>. Grand processions of people shouldering richly decorated carriages with idols of Hindu gods are a large part of the festivities there. The processions are full of drumbeats, songs, colorful powder and flower petals thrown into the air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In southern India, where Holi is not celebrated as widely, many temples carry out religious rites. In the Kudumbi tribal community, in the southwest, temples cut areca palms and transport their trunks to the shrine in a ritual that symbolizes the victory good over evil.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-a93e3ae\">It\u2019s not just in India.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi is celebrated around the world, wherever the Indian diaspora has gone. More than <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mea.gov.in\/population-of-overseas-indians.htm\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">32 million<\/a> Indians and people of Indian origin are overseas, most in the United States, where 4.4 million reside, according to the Indian government. It is also widely enjoyed in countries as varied as Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Britain and other parts of Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Holi is known as Phagwah in the Indian communities of the Caribbean, including in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/dpi.gov.gy\/guyanese-excited-to-celebrate-phagwah-2023\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Guyana<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/sr.usembassy.gov\/holiday-calendar\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Suriname<\/a> and Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The festival has also been used by the Indian government to project soft power and reshape its image as part of its \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.incredibleindia.org\/content\/incredible-india-v2\/en\/events\/holi.html#\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Incredible India<\/a>\u201d tourism campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Holi, \u201cthe world is a global village,\u201d said Shubham Sachdeva, 29, from an eastern Delhi suburb, who added that his friends in the United States were celebrating Holi with their roommates whether they were Indian or not. \u201cAll this brings the world close to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rainbow haze swirls through India, where raucous laughter rings out as friends and strangers douse one another with fists full of pigmented powder. Holi is a Hindu tradition, an annual celebration of spring. In 2024, crimson, emerald, indigo and saffron clouds will hover over the country on March 25 for one of its most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/08\/multimedia\/00xp-holi-01-gktv\/00xp-holi-01-gktv-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10290,10183,925,10291],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6473,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6471\/revisions\/6473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}