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Riot of COLOURS
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This festival of colours has transcended all barriers and is enjoyed and celebrated by all Indians with equal zest and vitality.
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The exuberant colours of Holi exude the spirit of goodwill. -- Photo: Ranjeet Kumar
Screaming pink, marigold yellow, grasshopper green, colours and more colours! It is that time of the year when Mother Nature casts off her winter's gloom. The gulmohar and mango trees begin to flower in glorious colours. When the warmth of the bright sun filters though winter's cold, it is also time for the festival of joy, fun and buoyancy - yes, Holi, the festival of colours, has come.
The unbridled enthusiasm of people to add the annual dash of colours to their lives soars high. This is the most colourful of all festivals celebrated in India; it also celebrates new life and the beginning of spring.
Even though the story of Holi is not rooted in some parts of India, this festival of colours has transcended all barriers and is enjoyed and celebrated by all Indians with equal zest and vitality.
Be South Indians or Northerners, people of all ages come out to smear colour and rejoice in music and dance.
The Rajasthani Sanskrutic Mandal celebrates the festival with a lot of fervour. The celebrations start a week in advance. A day before Holi, the 'holika', a pile of wood, is burned signifying the end of evil. Women fast on this day and perform puja before the 'holika' is burned.
More than 5,000 North Indian families celebrate the festival in the city. In these times when stress-filled work dominates a person's life, Holi provides the ideal opportunity to unwind.
Being a riot of colours, Holi sometimes is an occasion for riotous events, too (though on a minor scale). There are mischief-mongers who try to daub the colours on passers-by or simply throw a bucket of water on vehicles on the move.
Sometimes, the victims are girls who have to put up with the rash behaviour of guys. "But the misdemeanours of such mischief-mongers, sailing under the false colours of Holi revellers, should not be held against the whole congregation," says Chandmal Agarwal, a member of the Mandal.
Vasant Utsav
Poet and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, revived the spirit of Holi in India as the Spring festival or Vasant Utsav at Shantiniketan. Boys and girls joyfully welcome Spring, the season of hope not just with colours but with songs, dance, chanting of hymns in the serene ambience of Shantiniketan. They welcome Spring by staging various aspects of this joyous festival in an artistic manner.
Later, all the students and teachers play Holi with coloured powder (gulal) and smear each other's faces with red, yellow and green.
Vasant Utsav is now so renowned that it attracts international tourists.
Types of celebration
The festival is celebrated with great gusto in all the other States of India. In Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat, a pot of buttermilk is hung high in the streets and young boys try to reach it and break it by making human pyramids while girls try to stop them by throwing coloured water on them to commemorate the pranks of Krishna and cowherd boys to steal butter and 'gopis' trying to stop them.
Bengalis celebrate Holi as Dol Yatra or the swing festival where the idols of Krishna and Radha are placed on swings and women sing devotional songs, throw colours on them and perform dances as devotees take their turn to swing them. The people of Orissa celebrate Holi in a similar manner, but here the idols of Jagannath, the presiding deity of Puri, replace the idols of Krishna and Radha.
Manipuris in north-eastern part of India celebrate Holi for six days. Introduced in the 18th century with Vaishnavism, it soon merged with the centuries-old festival of Yaosang. Traditionally, youths at night perform a group folk dance called 'thaabal chongba' on the full moon night of Phalgun along with folk songs and rhythmic beats of the indigenous drum. However, this moonlight party now has modern bands and fluorescent lamps, and a bonfire of a thatched hut of hay and twigs is arranged.
In Krishna temples, devotees sing songs, perform dances and play 'gulal', wearing traditional white and yellow turbans. On the last day of the festival, large processions are taken out to the main Krishna temple, near Imphal, where several cultural programmes are organized.
Traditional colours
Colours used in the past had therapeutic value. Traditionally, the colours, known as gulal, were made at home from the flowers of `tesu' or `palash' (flame of the forest). Turmeric, `mehendi', banana leaves, `majishtha' and `parang' were also used to extract beautiful hues.
These days colours used have many chemical ingredients that are hazardous to health. Dry colours are made with asbestos and chalk powder and silica. Alkaline-base is used in water-colours, which can cause serious eye diseases. Paste colours are mixed in a base of engine oil that can result in skin disorders. As these colours seep into the earth they pollute the soil and water as well.
The eco-friendly colours of the past can be prepared with simple preparations at home, too.
The exuberant colours of Holi exude the vitality of spring. Hope the spirit of goodwill will translate itself into a clean and safe festival of Holi this year.
NIVEDITA GANGULY
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