Holi Festival is a religious holiday that is practiced by the Hindu today. It is a colorful spring festival and has much in common with April’s Fool’s Day and Valentine’s Day.
The spirit of the holiday is to feel silly and play practical jokes on one another by spraying colored water. Holi first originated in India and is practiced when a full moon occurs during the months of February and March.
For some parts of India, it is a two-day festival and, for others, it can range up to ten days. This religious holiday is named after Holika. Before the festival, bonfires are lit all over the country along with blowing of the horns and dancing.
At the end of the fire, they take embers washed in water and use the ashes to mark their forehead for good luck for the year. As it is said in the Hindu legend, Hunuman the small monkey god once swallowed the sun, leaving their world full of darkness.
It is now a joke to squirt colored water to make Hanuman laugh. In the end, Hunuman was so amused that the sun ended up flying out of his mouth. In India, Holi falls before the start of the wet season. The water symbolizes the coming of the rains to come. Water also symbolizes protection against the evil.
Discover more about the colorful festival here.
