Holi is very famous festival of the colours celebrated every year in the month o

f Phalgun by the people of India with big joy. It is the festival of lots of fun
and frolic activities especially for the children who take part in the celebrat
ion a week before and lasts a week after the date of Holi festival. Holi festiva
l is celebrated by the people of Hindu religion all over the India especially in
North India in the month of March.
There are many stories and legends behind celebrating the Holi in India for year
s. It is the festival of great importance and significance. According to the Hin
du mythology, it is considered as Holi celebration was started a long ago from t
he ancient time when Holika was burned in the fire while trying to kill her own
brother s son in the fire. It is considered as there was a demon king called Hiran
yakashyap, father of little Prahlad. He had tried to kill his own son in the fir
e when Prahlad denied to worship his father as Prahlad was a great devotee of th
e Lord Vishnu. When Hiranyakashyap failed in many of his strategies to kill Prah
lad, he ordered his own sister, Holika to sit in fire by having Prahlad in her l
ap as she was booned by the God for never getting harmed by the fire.
However, this strategy was also became failed as little Prahlad was the devotee
of the Lord Vishnu and he was saved by his God. Holika was died in the fire and
Prahlad was saved. From that day, people of Hindu religion started celebrating t
he Holi festival every year. In the evening of a day before the colourful Holi,
people make a heap of woods and co-dung cakes on the cross roads and do fire in
the heap in the myth of burning Holika and celebrate Holika Dahan ceremony. Some
people make round and round of the burning Holika and worship to get blessed wi
th the prosperity and good health by burning all the sins and diseases in the fi
re. There is also a tradition in Hindu religion of burning wastes of the whole b
ody massage with mustard seed paste in the fire in the myth of burning all the s
kin problems and get good health for the whole year.
In the next morning of the Holika Dahan, people celebrate a colourful Holi by ge
tting together at one place and on the roads. Colourful Holi preparations start
a week before the main date of the Holi festival. People become highly enthusias
tic especially children of the home who starts buying different colours a week b
efore the date. Even they start playing colours with their friends, neighbours a
nd relatives with pitchakri and small balloons. In the morning people start roam
ing to each other s home by having abeer and colours to play. They apply abeer to
the forehead of each other, hug each other and celebrate eating various deliciou
s dishes like gujhiya, sweets, pani puri, dahi bade, chips and so many other yum
my dishes at each other s home all through the day.