Known as “The Festival Of Colour”, Holi is the festival that is celebrated with joy by the people of every community. It falls at the beginning of spring seasonin the month of Phalgun. The celebration of Holi takes place in two phases i.e. Holika Dahan and Playing with colours. Like other festivals, it is also associated with the legends. The stories behind the festival rituals include the story of Holika Dahan.
There was a devil named Hiranyakashyap who considered himself a God and wanted every individual of his kingdom to worship him. He had a son named Prahalad who was Lord Vishnu’s devotee and refused to worship his father. Hiranyakashyap asked his sister Holika to help him to kill his son. Holika has the blessing of being immune to fire. To kill Prahalad, she made him sit on her lap while sitting on fire. Due to evil intentions, Holika burned to ashes and Prahalad was saved.
Another Holi story is of Lord Krishna and Radha Ji. It is believed that Lord Krishna acquired a blue colour because of drinking the poisoned breast milk of Putana (female demon) when he was a baby. However, when he became young, fair-coloured Radha and her friends in the village teased him due to his dark complexion. So, his mother Yashoda asked him to colour Radha with the colour. When Lord Krishna applied colour on Radha’s face, since then the tradition of playing with colours started.
Ways to Celebrate Holi in a Different Style
Everyone has a different style of celebrating Holi like by hosting a themed party, exchanging Holi gifts, setting a sweets and colours stall, and many others. If you wish to celebrate Holi in a different style, we have a list of amazing ways to celebrate Holi and have fun.
• GulalWali Holi: It is the most common style of playing Holi. People call it dry Holi also. People throw vibrant colours on each other. The numerous colours sticking all together gives the look of a clown. Along with the herbal colours and you can please your family and friends with a special drink known as “Thandaai”. It is a cold beverage that is prepared with milk, Bhaang, and dry fruits.
• Lath Maar Holi: This style of Holi is played in Barsana (Uttar Pradesh). In this, the men try to tease the women by singing the song and throwing colours. The women in return chase the men with lathis or long sticks. The man protects themselves with shields. The people who never seen this celebration can organise and hold this style of celebration.
• PhoolonWali Holi: It is one of the beautiful styles of playing Holi. Sounding like a Bollywood movie theme but it is a style of Holi played in Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan. People throw flower petals on each other and enjoy the rain of flowers while dancing.
• Bollywood Style Holi: To celebrate Holi is a glamourous style, you can opt for Bollywood style Holi celebration. The abundance of colours, loud music (Bollywood Holi hits), themed decor, etc are the things that would give you Bollywood feel. You and your guests would surely enjoy this style of celebrating Holi. Instead of whites, you can ask your guests to dress like Bollywood movie characters and prepare a dance performance.
• PaniWali Holi: Splashing a bucket of colourful water on someone and see them going crazy, seems so funny and enjoying. Yes, you can play Holi by throwing water and colours on others. You can use the Pichkari (water guns), and shoot the colourful waters and run. It would make the celebration enjoyable and full of fun. To increase the fun, you can also use the small water balloons filled with coloured water. Nobody would mind being hit with the coloured water balloon.
• Laddu Maar Holi: If you wish to conserve water, you can go for Laddu Maar Holi. It is also a unique style of Holi that is celebrated at the Ladli Ji temple in Barsana. Boondike Ladduis packed in small transparent pouches and people play Holi by hitting a laddu. The best thing is that the laddu breaks in its pack only and later you can have it.
Apart from these, there are many ways like you can celebrate Holi with the underprivileged kids and bring a smile on their face with gifts. Here, we provide you with numerous gift choices such as a pack of colours, colourful cakes, a water gun for kids, and much more. In case you need any help, our experts can assist you with the best Holi gifts ideas.