Holi

"Holli" redirects here. For the ice hockey player, see Antti Hölli. For other uses, see Holi (disambiguation).

Holi
Krishna playing Holi with Radha and gopis
Observed byHindus,[1] Jains,[2][3] and others[4]
TypeReligious, cultural, spring festival
Significance
CelebrationsNight before Holi: Holika Dahan or Kama Dahan
On Holi: Playing with coloured powder and water, dancing, greetings, festival delicacies[5]
DatePhalguna Purnima
FrequencyAnnual
Related toHola Mohalla, Shigmo and Yaosang
Explanatory note
Hindu festival dates

The Hindu calendar is lunisolar but most festival dates are specified using the lunar portion of the calendar. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements: māsa (lunar month), pakṣa (lunar fortnight) and tithi (lunar day).

Furthermore, when specifying the masa, one of two traditions are applicable, viz. amānta / pūrṇimānta. If a festival falls in the waning phase of the moon, these two traditions identify the same lunar day as falling in two different (but successive) masa.

A lunar year is shorter than a solar year by about eleven days. As a result, most Hindu festivals occur on different days in successive years on the Gregorian calendar.
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Holi (Hindi pronunciation: ['hoːli:]) is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring.[1][6][7][8] It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna.[9][10] Additionally, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil,[11][12] as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu.[13][14] Holi originated and is predominantly celebrated in the Indian subcontinent, but has also spread to other regions of Asia and parts of the Western world through the Indian diaspora.[7][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Holi also celebrates the arrival of Spring in India, the end of winter, and the blossoming of love.[15][22] It is also an invocation for a good spring harvest season.[15][22] It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the Purnima (full moon day) falling on the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna, which falls around the middle of March in the Gregorian calendar.

  1. ^ a b The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) ISBN 0-19-861263-X p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference wiley42 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference bal269 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference wpnonhindus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ht was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "What is Holi?". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  7. ^ a b Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, Volume 1, ISBN 978-1851099801, p. 212
  8. ^ McKim Marriott (2006). John Stratton Hawley and Vasudha Narayanan (ed.). The Life of Hinduism. University of California Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-520-24914-1., Quote: "Holi, he said with a beatific sigh, is the Festival of Love!"
  9. ^ Schwartz, Susan L. (6 October 2004). Rasa: Performing the Divine in India. Columbia University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-231-13145-2.
  10. ^ R Deepta, A.K. Ramanujan's ‘Mythologies’ Poems: An Analysis, Points of View, Volume XIV, Number 1, Summer 2007, pp. 74–81
  11. ^ What Is Hinduism?. Himalayan Academy Publications. 2007. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-934145-27-2.
  12. ^ "Festivals for Spring: Holi and Basant Kite Festival: Holi". Holi celebrates love, forgiveness, and triumph of good over evil
  13. ^ David N. Lorenzen (1996). Praises to a Formless God: Nirguni Texts from North India. State University of New York Press. pp. 22–31. ISBN 978-0-7914-2805-4.
  14. ^ Vittorio Roveda (2005). Images of the Gods: Khmer Mythology in Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. River Books. p. 70. ISBN 978-974-9863-03-9.;
    Sunil Kothari; Avinash Pasricha (2001). Kuchipudi. Abhinav. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-81-7017-359-5.
  15. ^ a b c Ebeling, Karin (10), Holi, an Indian Festival, and its Reflection in English Media; Die Ordnung des Standard und die Differenzierung der Diskurse: Akten des 41. Linguistischen Kolloquiums in Mannheim 2006, 1, 107, ISBN 978-3631599174
  16. ^ Amber Wilson (2004). Jamaica: The people. Crabtree Publishing Company. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7787-9331-1.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference wsj-holifight was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Holi Festivals Spread Far From India The Wall Street Journal (2013)
  19. ^ Holi Festival of Colours Visit Berlin, Germany (2012)
  20. ^ Holi 2023 Date, Rituals, and Significance
  21. ^ Holi Hindu Festival
  22. ^ a b Wendy Doniger (Editor), Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, 2000, ISBN 978-0877790440, Merriam-Webster, p. 455