• Etymology

The word Holi comes from the word “hola” which means to offer prayers to the gods for a good harvest. However, it can also be literally translated as “burning” due to the fact that it came from the name of the demon Holika who got burned herself in a fire.

• Origin Story

There are various legends to explain this festival. It is said that Holi existed a few centuries before Christ. Nonetheless, the significance of the celebration is accepted to have changed throughout the long term. Prior it was a ceremony performed by married ladies for the joy and prosperity of their families and the full moon was worshipped. The most prominent of all is the legend associated with demon king Hiranyakashyap.

VISHNU LEGEND

There was at one time a devil lord by the name of Hiranyakashyap who prevailed upon the realm of earth. He was self-absorbed to such an extent that he told everyone in his realm to worship just him. Yet, to his incredible disillusionment, his child, Prahlad turned into an ardent devotee of Lord Narayana and refused to worship his own dad.

Hiranyakashyap tried several ways to kill his son Prahlad but Lord Vishnu saved him every time. Finally, Hiaranyakashyap instructed his sister, Holika to enter a burning fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a boon whereby she could enter fire with no harm on herself. However, she didn’t know that the boon would work only when she enters the fire alone.

As a result, Holika got burned into ashes by Agni(fire). Prahlad, who kept chanting the name of Lord Narayana all this while, came out unharmed, as the Lord blessed him for his extreme devotion.

KRISHNA LEGEND

In the Braj area of India, where the Hindu god Krishna grew up, the celebration is commended until Rang Panchami in recognition of the heavenly love of Radha for Krishna.  There is a representative legend behind recognizing Krishna too. In his youth,  Krishna despaired whether the fair-skinned Radha would like him because of his dark skin color. His mother, tired of his desperation, asks him to approach Radha and ask her to color his face in any color she wanted. This she did, and Radha and Krishna became a couple. Ever since the playful coloring of Radha and Krishna’s face has been commemorated as Holi.

SHIVA LEGEND

The story of Holi is  also connected to Shiva in yoga and profound contemplation, goddess Parvati needing to bring back Shiva into the world, looks for help from the Hindu love god Kamadeva on Vasant Panchami.  The love god shoots arrows at Shiva. This makes Lord Shiva very angry as a result he opens his third eye and turns Kamadeva into ashes. his upsets both Kama’s wife Rati (Kamadevi) and his own wife Parvati. Rati performs her own meditative asceticism for forty days, upon which Shiva understands, forgives out of compassion, and restores the god of love. This return of the god of love is celebrated on the 40th day after the Vasant Panchami festival as Holi.