Sri Saibaba Temple , Nashville, TN Weekly News Letter Holi Special Edition

[Sri Saibaba Temple - Nashville]

Sairam

 

The most ‘popular’ event associated with Hoil is the burning of the demoness Holika. Infact the name ‘Holi’ is a shortened version of the name ‘Holika’.

Legend has it that there was a great king of Asuras called Hiranyakashipu. He pleased Lord Brahma with severe tapasya and got a boon that he could not be

killed ‘during day or night; inside the home or outside, not on earth or in the sky; neither by a man nor an animal; neither by astra nor by shastra’.

He became so self obsessed that he forbid worship of any God and in fact declared himself as the ‘Master of one and all’.

But such is Prabhu’s maya that his own son Prahlada turned out to be a great devotee of Lord Vishnu.Hiranyakashipu couldn’t digest the fact that his own

blood was going against his wishes. After trying very hard to pursue Prahlad to stop worship of Vishnu, Hiranyakashyapu reached a stage where he thought

that killing his son was the only solution to end this ‘revolt’.

He poisoned Prahlada; but the poison got converted to nectar in his mouth.

He ordered Prahlada to be trampled by elephants; but Prahlada remained unharmed.

He put Prahlada in a room with hungry, poisonous snakes; no damage was done to Prahlada.

He threw Prahlada down a cliff; Prahlada easily survived the fall.

Thus all of Hiranyakashipu’s attempts to kill his son failed.

Finally, he decided to employ the services of his demoness sister Holika in order to ensure the killing of Prahlad.

Prahlad was made to sit on a pyre in the lap of Holika.

 Now the logic behind this was that Holika had a boon that she couldn’t be burned by fire.So the plan was to make Prahlada burn while Holika would be unaffected by the fire.

Prahlada quietly went and sat on Holika’s lap. he only thing he constantly did was to take the name of the Almighty – ‘Om Namo Narayana’. 

When the pyre was lit, much against the expectations of people around, Holika  was affected by the heat of the fire and slowly her body perished.

On the other hand Prahlad was untouched and unaffected by the fire. This event is known as Holika Dahan.

 

Dhundhi

 

 

In the kingdom of Prithu there was an ogress called Dhundhi.

Now Dhundhi, had a boon from Lord Shiva that she could not be killed by Gods, men nor suffer either from arms or from heat, cold or rain.

These boons made her almost invincible. but there was a catch. She was also cursed by Lord Shiva that she would be in danger from young boys.

Because of this Dhundhi used to trouble little children in particular.

Prithu was alarmed by this terror of Dhundhi. He consulted a lot of people and a solution was arrived at.

It was decided that on last full moon day of Phalguna, when the season of cold vanishes and summer begins,

young boys with bits of wood in their hands would go out of their houses, collect a heap of wood and grass,

set it on fire with mantras, clap their hands, go around the fire thrice, laugh, sing and by their noise and laughter Dhundhi would die.

The plan worked and since that day Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna.

 

 

Kaama Dahan 

Shakthi and Shiva were happily married to each other. Once Sakthi’s father Daksha organised a yagya, but did not invite Sati or Shiva as

he had an altercation with Shiva in the court of Brahma. But, Sati who wanted to attend the yagya, went even though Lord Shiva did not appreciate the idea.

To here great anguish, Daksha ignored her presence and did not even offer a place for Shiva. Sati felt humiliated and was struck with profound grief.

She jumped into the yagna fire and immolated herself.Lord Shiva became extremely furious when he heard the news of Sakthi’s immolation. Carrying the body of Shakti,

Shiva began to perform Rudra Tandava (dance of destruction) and wiped out the kingdom of Daksha. Everybody was terrified as Shiva’s Tandava had the power to destroy the entire universe.

In order to calm Lord Shiva, Vishnu severed Sati’s body into 12 pieces and threw them on earth. It is said that wherever the pieces of Shakti’s body fell, there emerged a Shakti Peetha.

 

Lord Siva undertook rigorous penance and retired to the Himalayas. Sakthi took a re-birth as Parvati in the family of God Himalaya. She also started performing penance to break Shiva’s meditation and win his attention.

During this time a demon by the name of Tarkasur terrorized the Devtas and became the ruler of the world. Tarkasur had a boon that he could be only killed by the son of Lord Shiva.

As Shiva was paying no heed to Parvati’s tapasya, the Devtas requested Kaama Deva (also known as Madan) to accelerate the process of

bringing together Shiva and Parvati. So Kamadeva shot his love-arrow on Shiva’s heart. A deeply disturbed Lord Shiva opened his third eye and the fury of his third eye instantly turned

Kamadeva into ashes. Kaama Deva’s wife Rati requested Shiva  to restore her husband’s life.

Shiva agreed to Rati’s request and granted immortality to Kamdev, but added that Kaamdeva would exist in a disembodied (free from a body) form.

Since this day Kamadeva is also known as ‘Ananga’ or ‘Atanu’ (both meaning ‘without body’).

This event is celebrated as Kaama Dahan in southern parts of India.

 Thus we see that Holi might be given any name, but the essence and message of Holi remains the same – eliminate and burn the negativities inside us (just like Holika, Dhundhi, Pootana and Kaama Deva were burnt) and lead a positive and colorful life.

Lathmar Holi

In March, the villages of Barsana and Nandgaon in Uttar Pradesh are full of an unusual sight: crowds of men, cowering before women who are striking them with bamboo sticks.

The unique celebration is part of the festival of colors called Lathmar Holi. The two villages, according to Hindu mythology, are the birthplaces of Lord Krishna and his lover Radha, respectively, and the participants are acting out the ancient lover’s tale.

The playful Krishna, who lived in Nandgaon, is said to have come to Barsana to tease Radha and her friends. They chased him away by using sticks.

 

Men from Nandgaon enact the role of Krishna and his friends, provoking the women of Barsana by singing songs and hurling provocative, sexually explicit abuses. (Elders claim that this is the reason why marriage between members of the two villages is prohibited, to prevent a situation where a man has to address his daughter or sister in such sexually explicit terms. In India, women usually move to their husbands’ homes and villages after marriage.)

The men take full advantage of the license the festival grants them, spraying colored water and smearing colored powder on the women as they tease them.

The women retaliate by raining blows on the men with sticks. The men come prepared with shields and turbans, but custom dictates that they are not allowed to retaliate.

Some believe that the origins of Holi, the Indian celebration of spring, can be found in incidents from Lord Krishna’s life. One story says Krishna, also known as the “Dark One,” asked his mother the reason for his dark skin color while Radha had a fair complexion. His mother suggested in jest that he should smear color on Radha’s face and change it to the color he wanted.

 

Editorial Team

Sri Saibaba Temple Seva Committee

www.srisaibabatemple.org