- By Aalok Sensharma
- Mon, 09 Mar 2020 07:53 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
New Delhi | Jagran Lifestyle Desk: The festival of colours, 'Holi' has finally arrived. Today, people will celebrate Choti Holi -- also known as 'Holika Dahan'. On this day, people will lit a dummy of demon Holika, which signifies the victory of good over evil. This day is celebrated with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm across the country. People celebrate Holi by splashing colours or ‘gulal’ at each other.
The festival of Holi start on the evening of Purnima during the Vikram Samvat period. The first evening is celebrated as ‘Holika Dahan’ or ‘Chotti Holi’. This year, the shubh muhurat for Holika Dahan is from 6.22 pm to 8.49 pm and the Purnima tithi will begin at 3.03 am on March 9 while it will end at 11:17 pm on the same day.
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What is the history and importance of Holika Dahan?
The legends believe that a deman or Asura named Hiranyakashipu ruled India during the ancient time. Hiranyakashipu, who received blessing from Lord Bramha, wanted to avenge the death of brother Hiranyakash who was killed by Lord Vishnu’s Varha avatar. In order to avenge the death of his brother, Hiranyakashipu started killing the devotees of Lord Vishnu.
He virtually eradicated all the devotees of Lord Vishnu. However, he had a son named Prahlada, who was a big devotee of the Lord himself. Hiranyakashipu was outraged by the fact that his own son is a worshipper of Lord Vishnu and thus decided to kill him. He tried to kill his son many times but Prahlada was saved by Lord Vishnu every time which angered Hiranyakashipu even more.
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Thus in an attempt to kill Prahlada, Hiranyakashipu called his sister Holika, who had a special cloak clothe that prevented her from being harmed by fire. Hiranyakashipu asked Holika to sit on fire with Prahlada to kill. However, the opposite happened and Holika was burnt to death while Prahlada was once again saved by Lord Vishnu.
What happened after the death of Holika?
Soon Lord Vishnu, in his Narasimha avatar, appeared and killed Hiranyakashipu with his ‘lion claws’ at the evening at the doorstep of his palace. Thus we celebrate Holika Dahan to signify the victory of good over evil.
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