Holi 2020: Holika Dahan date, Auspicious idea

This year Holika Dahan is on 9 March and Holi on 10 March 2020. Holi is an important Indian festival / festival celebrated on the day of Falgun Purnima in the spring. In fact it is a festival of colors. This festival is traditionally celebrated for two days. Holika Dahan is done on the first day and colors are played on the second day. Holi is also known as Phalguni due to being celebrated in the month of Falgun.

The festival of Holi starts from the day of Vasant Panchami. On the same day for the first time Gulal is offered on the feet of Mata Saraswati, after which everyone offers each other. The song of Phag and Dhamar also starts from this day. People from all sections of the society drown with drums, music and colors and there is a splash of colors all around.

Special importance of Holashtak

Holashtak is a combination of two words Hola and Ashtak which means eight days before Holi, this eight day is called Holashtak. Holashtak has special significance. No auspicious work is done in Holashtak, all auspicious work is prohibited in this period.

This year Holashtak will be from 3 March to 09 March 2020 i.e. from Falgun Shukla Ashtami to Holika Dahan i.e. Poornima. Holashtak is mainly celebrated in Northern India and Punjab. No rites are performed in Holashtak.

Holika Dahan Auspicious idea

These things must be kept in mind while considering Holika Dahan Muhurta. It is considered auspicious for Holika Dahan not to be Bhadra and to have Pradosh Vyapini Purnima Tithi. If Bhadra is not free and Pradosh Vyapini Purnima and Bhadra ends before midnight then Holika Dahan should be done after Bhadra ends after Pradosh.

According to the second situation, if Bhadra prevails till midnight, in such a situation Holika Dahan can be done during Bhadra tail. But in any case, Holika Dahan should not be done in Bhadra Mukha. Dharmasindhu has also supported this belief.

According to many religious scriptures, Holika Dahan done in Bhadra Mukha is inauspicious. Holika Dahan done during auspicious time may have to be suffered not only by the combustioners but also by the villagers, towns and countrymen. That is why the Muhurta of Holika Dahan is also important than other Muhurta.

Sometimes it happens that Bhadra tail does not spread between Pradosh and midnight, in such a situation Holika Dahan should be done at the time of Pradosh. If ever there is a situation that Holika Dahan is not possible in both Pradosh and Bhadra tail then Holika Dahan should be done after Pradosh.

Holika Dahan why and how

Holika Dahan is done one day before Holi, a wood is kept for Holika Dahan at a public place, after that everyone slowly collects unused wood from their home and gathered on the day of Holika Dahan Holika Dahan festival is celebrated by igniting fire in wood.

In the Holika, a garland of cow dung made of cow dung is made, in that garland there are seven small dumplings. This garland is burnt with Holika at the time of Holika Dahan at night. The purpose of this is that with Holi, the evil eye in the house also burns and happiness starts coming to the house.

This Holika, made of wood and stools, begins to be duly worshiped from midday. Not only this, whatever dish is prepared in homes, it is offered in Holika. Holika is burnt on the auspicious time until evening. In this Holika, new earrings of wheat earrings and gram beetles are also roasted and eaten. The burning of Holika symbolizes the victory of good over the prevailing evils of society. This day is also called the first day of Holi.

What to do in Holika Dahan

At the time of Holika Dahan, the wheat hair should be baked in the burning Holika, after that it should be brought in the house as Prasad and all the members of the house should eat together and this increases the wealth. Burning camphor and cardamom in Holika is good from the health point of view.

Popular stories related to Holi and Holika

There are many stories related to Holi festival. The most famous of these is the story of Prahlada. In ancient times there was an extremely powerful asura named Hiranyakashipu. In the arrogance of his force, he started considering himself as God. He banned the name of God in his kingdom.

Prahlad Vishnu, the son of Hiranyakashipu was a devotee. Angered by Prahlada's devotion to God, Hiranyakashipu gave many harsh punishments to his son, but he never left the path of devotion to God. Hiranyakashipu's sister Holika had the boon that she could not burn in the fire. Hiranyakashipu ordered Holika to sit in the fire with Prahlad on his lap. The order was obeyed, but when sitting in the fire, Holika was consumed by burning in the fire, but nothing happened to Prahlada.

Religion over unrighteousness is also seen as victory of the believer over atheist. Every year from the same day, Holika is lit in the memory of the devotee Prahlad. Symbolically it is also believed that Prahlada means joy. The Holika (burning wood) symbol of hatred and oppression burns and Prahlad (bliss), a symbol of love and joy, remains intact.

Holi meeting day

On the second day of Holika Dahan, people play Holi with water, flowers, soil, gulal, colors with all their friends and relatives as early as dawn according to the tradition of their place. People forget their feelings of jealousy and hatred, lovingly embrace each other and color each other. Children play Holi by dropping colors from the pitchers. The entire city, village, street mohalla becomes one and the same in color as Holi.

After playing the color, people take bath till late afternoon and go to meet everyone in the evening wearing new clothes and at this time people use gulal. On this day, there is a tradition of eating home-cooked dishes at each other. Gujiya has special significance in the dish. Cannabis and cold are the special drinks of this festival. On this occasion, people sing songs of Fagua in the village.

Holi and modernity

Holi is a festival of colors, a festival of laughter. There has been a lot of change in Holi of ancient times and today's Holi, like chemical colors are being used exclusively in place of natural colors today. In place of cannabis and cool music, instead of cannabis and folk music, film songs are being introduced. Yet even today, we have not completely lost our antiquity. Even today, the dhol, chajar, phag, dhamar, thumri are sung and sung. There is a tradition of playing Holi with sandalwood, rose water, color of Tesu flowers and natural colors.

Historical evidence of holi

Holi is a very ancient festival of India which is celebrated under the name Holi, Holika or Phalguni. It is also called Vasantotsav and Kama-Mahotsav.

Mostly it was celebrated only in eastern India. The description of this festival is found in many ancient religious books. Prominent among them, this festival is also mentioned in the scriptures of Narada Purana, Bhavishya Purana, former Mimamsa-Sutra, Katha Garhaya-Sutra etc. It is also mentioned in a record of Ramgarh in Vindhya region.

Muslim tourist Alberuni has also described Holikotsav in his historical travel memoirs. Many Muslim poets of India have mentioned in their works that Holikotsav is celebrated not only by Hindus but also by Muslims. There is a narration of Akbar playing Holi with Jodha Bai and Jahangir with Nur Jahan.

Holi was called Eid-e-Pink or Ab-e-Pashi (shower of colors) in the time of Shah Jahan. In the medieval Hindi literature, there is a clear description of Krishna's pastimes. Apart from this, pictures of Holi festival are found on the walls of ancient paintings, frescoes and temples. The picture shows the princes and princesses playing Holi with colors and piercings, including the maidens. In a 16th century Mewar artwork, Maharana is shown playing colors with his courtiers.

Holi traditions

The traditions of Holi are very ancient, but the way of playing Holi has also changed according to the time. In ancient times, women worshiped full moon on this day and wished for happiness and prosperity of their family. On this day, there is also a law to break the undercover crop and offer it as prasad in Holika on the day of Holika Dahan. According to Indian astrology, New Year is also considered to be the beginning of Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. It is only after this festival that the month of Chaitra begins.