Holi Festival - All you need to know...Good to know

Scientific reason

The mutation period of winter and spring, induces the growth of bacteria in the atmosphere as well as in the body. When the born fire of Holi known as Holika is burnt, temperature rises to about 145 degrees Fahrenheit inducing a healthy heat in the atmosphere.

Advantages

When the culture of playing Holi started, people used colors of natural sources like turmeric, neem, Tulasi, Tesu, Katha, and so on. These natural colors had positive effects on human body, and can also strengthen the ions in the body to promote good health and beauty.

Colors meaning

Red colour reflects fertility, blue is the colour of Krishna, yellow is the colour of turmeric, and green symbolises the start of spring and something new. Other than this, holi is also played with flower petals like that of roses, daisies, sunflowers, and even marigolds.

Economic benefits

The economic benefits of festivals are easiest to see and most often cited–festivals attract visitors, which stimulates the growth of tourism and other businesses in a town or region. The social benefits of festivals are less visible, but they are just as important.

The Legend - Mythology

There was once a demon king by the name of Hiranyakashyap who won over the kingdom of earth. He was so egoistic that he commanded everybody in his kingdom to worship only him. But to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana and refused to worship his father.

Hiranyakashyap tried several ways to kill his son Prahlad but Lord Vishnu saved him every time. Finally, he asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. For, Hiranyakashyap knew that Holika had a boon, whereby, she could enter the fire unscathed.

Treacherously, Holika coaxed young Prahlad to sit in her lap and she herself took her seat in a blazing fire. The legend has it that Holika had to pay the price of her sinister desire by her life. Holika was not aware that the boon worked only when she entered the fire alone.

Prahlad, who kept chanting the name of Lord Naarayana all this while, came out unharmed, as the lord blessed him for his extreme devotion.

Thus, Holi derives its name from Holika. And, is celebrated as a festival of victory of good over evil.