होलिका दहन पूजा विधि और कथा

Lord Vishnu, in his Varaha form, had killed Hiranyaksha, brother of the daitya king Hiranyakashipu, and from then on Hiranyakashipu hated Vishnu. To become immortal he did fierce penance. As the Bhagavata Purana tells it, Brahma was pleased and granted that no being made by Brahma could kill him: not man nor beast; not inside a house nor outside it; not by day nor by night; not on the earth nor in the sky; and by no weapon. With the boon in hand he thought himself immortal, conquered the three worlds, and ordered that no one should take Vishnu's name.

Yet in his own house was born Vishnu's greatest devotee. The Bhagavata says that while Hiranyakashipu was away at his penance, his queen Kayadhu stayed in the hermitage of the sage Narada, and the child heard Narada's teaching while still in the womb. That child was Prahlad. At school too he saw only Hari in every lesson, and he began teaching the other daitya boys to take the Lord's name.

One day his father asked, 'Son, of all you have learned, what is the best thing?' Prahlad answered without fear: to hear the stories of Lord Vishnu, to sing his praise and remember him, and to give oneself to him. Hiranyakashipu shook with rage and ordered his son killed. The Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana both tell of many such attempts, and their lists are not the same. Among them: weapons struck him but would not cut; venomous snakes, maddened elephants and poison in his food were tried; he was thrown down from a height and cast into the water (into the sea, in the Vishnu Purana). Each time Prahlad stayed safe, saying the name of Hari.

Then, as the story is most often told among the people, the king called his sister Holika. Holika had a boon that fire could not burn her; in most north-Indian tellings the boon takes the form of a divine shawl. The plan was that Holika would sit on a burning pyre with Prahlad in her lap: she would live and the boy would burn. A pile of wood was built, Holika sat on it with Prahlad, and it was set alight.

The flames rose, and just then a gust of wind blew Holika's shawl off her and onto Prahlad. Prahlad sat unharmed, chanting 'Narayana, Narayana', and Holika burned to ash in that very fire. Some tellings say instead that the boon held only as long as it was not misused, and failed the moment she used it to burn an innocent child. The version with the shawl is the most popular. Note that this episode of Holika is not in the Bhagavata's story of Prahlad, nor in the Vishnu Purana; it comes from later tradition and folk telling, and it is what has been told on the night of Holi for generations. That night, they say, was the full moon of Phalgun, and the Holika is burned every year in memory of that pyre.

The story ends with Narasimha. Hiranyakashipu roared, 'Where is your Vishnu? Is he in this pillar too?' He struck it, and out of the pillar came Lord Narasimha, half man and half lion, neither man nor beast. At dusk, neither day nor night; on the threshold, neither inside nor outside; across his thighs, neither earth nor sky; and with his claws, which are no weapon, he put an end to Hiranyakashipu. The boon was not broken, and wrong did not escape. Prahlad calmed the Lord's wrath with his praise, and when offered a boon asked nothing for himself: only that no desire should rise in his heart, and that his father be redeemed.

In many parts of north India a stick or pole, the danda, is planted ahead of time at the open ground or crossroads where the Holika will burn: in some places on Basant Panchami, in others on Magh Purnima, in others at the start of the Holashtak. This is a regional custom. Day by day the neighbourhood piles dry wood, fallen branches and cow-dung cakes around it. In many homes of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, women and children make small round cow-dung cakes with a hole in the middle, called badkulle or gulariyan; once dry they are strung into garlands and offered on the Holika.

What you need: a lota of clean water; raw cotton thread (kachcha soot, plain undyed white thread) or mauli; roli, turmeric and akshat (unbroken rice); flowers and a garland; gulal; a whole coconut; gud (jaggery); batashe (sugar drops); whole green moong; ears of the new wheat and barley (and green chickpeas where they grow); the garlands of cow-dung cakes; incense; a small ghee lamp; sweets; and a long stick for roasting the grain ears. Arrange it all on a plate. If something is missing, do not worry: water, thread, roli and rice, flowers and the grain ears are enough.

Holika Dahan falls on the day when Phalguna Purnima is present in the pradosh. The pradosh begins at sunset and runs through the first fifth of the night (the night being sunset to the next sunrise). The 'Holika Dahan muhurat' in the box above is exactly this pradosh window.

What is Bhadra? In the panchang every tithi has two halves, called karanas; the karana named Vishti is called Bhadra. The first half of the Purnima is always Vishti, so Bhadra often falls on the day of Holika Dahan: sometimes it ends before sunset, sometimes it runs into the evening or past midnight. Tradition holds Bhadra unfit for auspicious beginnings, and above all for the Holika fire. That is why the box above shows the span of Bhadra separately, so that you can set it beside the muhurat.

The rule followed by the almanacs is this: the Holika is lit in the pradosh while the Purnima lasts, after Bhadra ends. If Bhadra ended before sunset, the whole pradosh is clear. If Bhadra runs into the pradosh but ends before midnight, the fire is lit after Bhadra ends. And if Bhadra runs past midnight, the almanacs do not wait for it: they still place the fire in the pradosh, avoiding Bhadra mukha at all costs, Bhadra's 'mouth' and its worst part, and preferring Bhadra punchha, its 'tail', when it falls then. Midnight here does not mean twelve o'clock but the Hindu midnight, halfway between sunset and the next sunrise. Ask the panchang or your family priest when the mukha and the punchha fall.

Not everyone follows one view. Some pandits of Banaras and elsewhere in north India, when Bhadra runs past midnight, still wait until it is fully over and only then light the Holika, even if that is in the hours before dawn. A neighbourhood Holika burns at one time for everyone, so settle on one view with the local pandit and the elders.

1. The day's preparation: on the Purnima, bathe, put on clean clothes and set the plate. In many regions, especially Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the women do the Holika puja in the day, before the fire is lit, and at night, in the muhurat, the neighbourhood lights it together.

2. Direction and vow: stand or sit near the Holika facing east or north. Remember Ganesh, saying 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. Then take water, rice and a flower in your hand and make the vow in your own words: 'I worship the Holika for the health and happiness of my family and the removal of obstacles', and let the water fall on the ground.

3. Offering water: pour a little water from the lota at the foot of the Holika; keep the rest for after the circling.

4. Tilak and flowers: mark the Holika with roli and turmeric, sprinkle rice, offer flowers and the garland, and say 'Om Holikayai Namah'.

5. Remembering Prahlad and Narasimha: fold your hands, remember Prahlad's devotion, and offer flowers to the Lord saying 'Om Narasimhaya Namah' and 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'.

6. Offerings: offer gud, batashe, whole moong, gulal and sweets; lay the garlands of cow-dung cakes on the pile; offer the coconut. In many places a whole coconut is given to the fire when it is lit.

7. Circling with raw cotton thread: tie one end of the thread to the pole or the wood and walk around the Holika, winding the thread around it as you go: three or seven times, as your family's custom is, clockwise, keeping the Holika on your right. The thread is held to be a binding of protection.

8. Arghya and prayer: after the circling, offer the rest of the water in the lota to the Holika, bow, and pray for your family's health and the removal of troubles. Touch the feet of the elders for their blessing.

9. Aarti: light incense and the ghee lamp and do the aarti 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare'.

10. Lighting the fire: when the muhurat comes, keeping the Bhadra rule in mind, the Holika is lit, usually by an elder of the neighbourhood, in some places with fire brought from a temple or a home. In some places the central pole is pulled out as soon as the fire catches, as a sign of Prahlad's escape; this is a local custom.

11. Roasting the grain: once the fire has settled, tie the ears of wheat and barley to the long stick and roast them over the flames from a distance. Take the roasted ears home as prasad, share them in the family, and give them to your neighbours as you embrace. Showing the first grain of the new crop to the fire before eating it is a very old custom of this night.

12. The ash the next morning: the next morning, when the fire has cooled, bring a pinch of the Holika's ash home and put a tilak of it on your forehead and the children's. Tradition holds this ash to ward off the evil eye and negativity. Do not touch hot ash.

Fasting and food: a fast is not required. Many keep the Purnima fast and eat after the Holika puja. Those who are ill, pregnant, elderly, or children should take fruit or one simple meal and keep a light or symbolic fast. Keep the food sattvik, and stay away from meat and alcohol.

The new bride, and periods: in some families of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh a new bride does not watch the first Holika fire at her in-laws' home and spends her first Holi at her parents' home. This is the custom of some families, not a bond of scripture; do not make it a matter of fear. During periods, the traditional view is that a woman does not touch the puja materials or the Holika, does not do the circling, and bows from a distance; today many families hold that joining the aarti and the festival in faith is entirely fitting. Decide by your family's tradition; the Lord looks at the heart.

Fire safety: the Holika fire rises high and fast. Keep children back and in an adult's hands; take care with loose dupattas, saree ends and synthetic clothes. Do not pour petrol or kerosene, keep water and sand nearby, build the Holika away from houses, electric wires, vehicles and trees, and let someone watch over it until it dies down.

The environment: never put tyres, plastic, rubber, polythene or rubbish in the Holika; their smoke is poisonous and weighs on the breath of the neighbourhood's children and elders. Do not cut green trees; use dry wood and cow-dung cakes. Instead of a Holika in every lane, build one for the whole neighbourhood. The fire of the story is meant to burn away evil, not the air we breathe.

In Braj — Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Nandgaon — Holi lasts many days; the Lathmar Holi of Barsana and Nandgaon remembers the play of Radha and Krishna. In Maharashtra it is called Holi, and Shimga in the Konkan; puran poli is offered to the fire. In Bengal and Odisha it is Dol Purnima: Krishna is seated on a swing and people play with abir; Gaudiya Vaishnavas keep the same day as Gaura Purnima, the appearance day of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In many parts of south India this night is Kama Dahanam, remembering how Kamadeva was burned to ash by Shiva's third eye. An old Sanskrit name of the festival, 'Holaka', is also found, and tradition links it to roasting half-ripe grain in the fire, the custom that lives on in roasting the grain ears.

The day after Holika Dahan is the Holi of colours: Dhulandi in some places, Dhuleti in others, simply Holi elsewhere. Folk belief holds that the next morning, in joy at Prahlad's escape, people threw the Holika's ash and dust over one another, and that the name 'Dhulandi', the day of dust, comes from this. In the morning a tilak of the ash, a little gulal for the family deities and at the feet of the elders, then colours, the songs of phag, gujhiya and embraces. In homes devoted to Krishna, gulal is offered to Radha and Krishna and 'Aarti Kunj Bihari Ki' is sung.

Keep the colours natural: tesu (palash) flowers soaked overnight for saffron, turmeric with gram flour for yellow, beetroot for pink, mehndi for green. Chemical and glittering colours harm the eyes and skin. Do not throw colour into eyes or mouths or on animals, do not waste water, and respect the wish of anyone who does not want to play; Holi is a festival of coming together, not of force.

By tradition the Holika puja is done for the protection of the family, the removal of illness and trouble, and the burning away of negativity from the home. The message of the story is plain: however great the boon that pride, cruelty and deceit wrap themselves in, in the end it is they that burn; and whoever holds on to the Lord with a true heart, even fire cannot touch. Into the Holika we also put our own anger, envy and old grudges, and the next morning we begin again with colours. Do not take this as a promise of results; it is a practice of faith, gratitude and self-discipline.

The Holika puja ends with the aarti of Lord Vishnu, 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare', since the story of this night is the story of Prahlad's Lord. Those who wish may recite the Vishnu Sahasranama or the Achyutashtakam this night; many also read the Hanuman Chalisa in the spirit of protection. All of these are in our library. Since it is a Purnima, many homes also hold the Satyanarayan Vrat Katha on this day. The next morning, homes devoted to Krishna sing 'Aarti Kunj Bihari Ki'.