Colours are the most joyous part of the Holi celebrations. They add
life and vitality to the festival making it most vibrant of all.
Spirit of Holi
The sight of Holi is so beautiful to watch; as the entire atmosphere gets
filled with the clouds of colours...And, as if to match with the cheerful
mood of the people nature itself wears its best and most colourful clothes.
The energy of the people as they move out in groups, playing dholaks,
singing songs in their highest possible pitch; completly drenched in colours
but more so in the spirit of Holi - throwing
gulal and abeer in the
air and on the feet of their elders as a mark of respect- it is this spirit
of the festival that makes it so delightful and memorable.
Colorful Legend
The legend from which the tradition of playing colours started is full of
colours in itself. The story goes that the very colourful Indian god,
Lord
Krishna was jealous of his soul mate Radha's fair complexion, since he
himself was very dark.
Naughty young Krishna complained to his mother Yashoda about this injustice
of nature. To placate the child, doting mother asked Krishna to apply colour
on Radha's face and change her complexion according to his choice.
Playful and mischievous Krishna appreciated the idea and implemented it.
The game of applying colours thus gained so much popularity that it became a
tradition and later it turned out to be a full fledged festival.
Till date, lovers desired to colour and be coloured by their mates. The
application of colours has in a way become an expression of love.
Holi Celebrations
The festival of colours is extremely popular amongst children. They eagerly
wait for a prey with a bucket full of colour water, an ever ready water jet-
popularly called a
pichkari and loads of colour packets to give vent
to their mischief nature.
Rather, the festival is not confined to any age group for old, young and
kids everybody turns as naughty as the other on the day. Play with colour
continues till every inch of all participants is coloured and the person
becomes virtually unrecognizable.
The spirit of the festivities knows no bound particularly in houses which
witness the arrival of a new bride. For everybody wishes to play Holi with
her. At some places there is a tradition in which the first Holi after
marriage is played in the brides maternal house. There too, the enthusiasm
for Holi is at its peak.
In modern day colonies, people move out in groups, called
tolis
visiting one house from the other, forcefully colouring the shy ones and
exchanging greetings.
Holi Knows No Bars
When it comes to Holi, hair are let loose and no restrictions hold. People
open up themselves and enjoy the festival to the hilt. The tradition of
consuming bhang too escalates the level of enthusiasm.
It is a real fun to watch the otherwise always sober people making a clown
of themselves. Singing songs at a high pitch and playing practical jokes on
others. For, the rule of the day is,
'Bura na mano Holi hai'.
(please don't take any offence for it is Holi).
At some places Holi parties are also organised where the colour and water
flows endlessly. Till everybody becomes one like nature in the season of
HOLI-FULL OF COLORS AND LIFE.
Significance of Different Colors
Red - Purity
Green - Vitality
Blue - Calm and sedateness
Yellow - Pious feeling
