India celebrates the festival of colours, Holi, this year on March 2. Holi is one of the most ancient festivals which finds an honoured mention in our old Sanskrit texts like Dashakumar Charit and Garud Puran.
However, if you are curious to find out what is the legend behind the festival of colours, here we are to tell you!
There are various legends which tell about the origin of this festival. Some say that it is associated with the love between Lord Krishna and Radha while in Tamilnadu and Kerala, the legend that is popular is of Kamdev-the Love-god
The most popular legend however, is of Prince Prahlad, the God-fearing son of Hiranyakashipu, the evil king.
Hiranyakashipu is an Asura from the Puranic scriptures of Hinduism. As per a legend,
Hiranyakashipu was the king of the Daityas and had earned a boon from Brahma that made him virtually indestructible. Thus, he grew arrogant and demanded that everyone should worship him instead of god. His son, Prahlad was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and Prahlad did not give up worshipping.
Hiranyakashipu tried to kill his son several times but failed and finally, asked his sister Holika, who was immune to death by fire, to sit with Prahlad in a fire.
When Holika took Prahlad and entered a blazing furnace, it was she who burnt to ashes by divine intervention, and Prahlad came out unscathed.
Before she died, she realised her follies and begged the boy’s forgiveness. As his gesture of forgiveness, Prahlad deemed that her name would be remembered at least one day in the year.
Holi commemorates this event from mythology, and huge bonfires are burnt on the eve of Holi as its symbolic representation.