Overview of The Holi Festival in India

Holi Holi, the “Festival of Colors” or the “Festival of Love”, is the celebration of the outset of the spring season, the welcome of warmth and happiness and symbolizes the victory of Good over Evil. It is the perfect occasion to boost your business by modernizing it or to start afresh Start-up business. Holi is played across the world with a dry colored powder called “gulal” or “abeer”, color mixed with water called “rang” and flowers. It is associated with the Hindu God Lord Krishna and his most amusing antics with his consort Radha and the Gopis. The different colors used in Holi have a specific meaning like “RED” represents Prosperity, “GREEN” represents Happiness, “BLUE” represents Longevity, “ORANGE” represents Progress, “PINK” represents Friendship, “YELLOW” represents Brilliance.

When is Holi Celebrated

The popular Indian festival, Holi, begins in the evening of Purnima or the Full Moon Day in the month of Phalgun (February/March). Holi celebration is followed by Holika Dahan or Choti Holi on the first evening. In different regions of the country, the Holi celebration has a distinct identity viz, Lathmar Holi (Barsana village, Uttar Pradesh), Khadi Holi (Kumaun, Uttarakhand), Hola Mohalla (Punjab), Basant Utsav and Dol Jatra (West Bengal), Shigmo (Goa), Yaosang (Manipur), Manjal Kuli (Kerela), Phaguwa (Bihar), Phakuwah (Assam), Rang Panchami (Maharastra & Madhya Pradesh), Royal Holi (Udaipur, Rajasthan).

Precious Message by “Holi”

Holi under the garb of parties and celebration teaches us a lot of mankind values. Some of the bold messages conveyed by this festival are:

• Truth Always Prevails: It teaches us to regard righteousness. It symbolizes the victory of Good over Evil. The value of Integrity and Ethics are to be learned from this festival.
• Humanity is the best Religion: It teaches us to admire, revitalize and acknowledge all relationships that are in any way related to us. It establishes the feeling of unity among all having no bar of caste, creed, age, color, region etc.
• Forgiveness is the Best disposal of Love: It teaches us to resolve all pending clashes and start a new Odyssey. It is a special occasion which allows us to “play” with our foes, celebrate along with them and abolish all sort of disputes.
• Positive thinking can transform your life: It teaches us to burn all the negatives vibes and all the hatreds in us. It gives the impetus to again contemplate all the drawbacks and showstoppers that exist within us and eliminate anything and everything which prevents to realize our goals.

How to Play Holi?

In earlier days, people used to play “Holi” from naturally derived colors like turmeric (Haldi), Neem, Tulsi, Katha, Palash (Teshu) etc. The science of playing Holi lies in the fact that the joyous streaming and sprinkling of colors prepared from these natural sources have a soothing effect on the human body. It has the effect of enhancing the ions in the body that improves the health and beauty of it by improving the well-being of skin, hair, nails etc. Also, the physical activity done while playing “Holi” removes the laziness or lethargies caused due to the winter season.

Nowadays, lots of harmful synthetic colors are in use during “Holi” which contain PM10 particles (Particulate matter having a diameter less than 10µm), dyes, lead oxide, diesel, chromium iodine, and copper sulfate. The use of these unhealthy chemicals causes skin irritation, hair loss and even blindness in cases of intense exposure. It is suggested to prefer the traditionally prepared natural herbal (organic) colors that have not only fragrance but are also skin-friendly. Eco-friendly natural colors are the best options to play Holi which can be prepared at home by the use of the different plant sources. Bright Red color may be prepared by mixing dried petals of Red Rose or Hibiscus or Red sandalwood powder with whole wheat flour (or maida), Saffron color from Teshu flower or Kesar (Saffron). Green color may be prepared from dried leaves of neem or Gulmohur plant, spinach leaves, mint or coriander, Yellow color from Turmeric powder or chrysanthemum flowers or pomegranate peels, Purple color from Beetroot.

Conclusion

With the Holi celebrations around the corner on March 21st, let’s enjoy by inculcating some of the valuable lessons that “Holi” festival teaches us and supplement love, harmony, and tranquillity in our lives and make advancement in our business and finance careers.