Among the dozens of festivals that
Indians celebrate every year, Holi stands out as one that has the least quota
of scriptures and the maximum dosage of wanton fun. More than a hundred years
ago, the venerable Pandit S.M. Natesa Sastri had commented, rather gravely on
this, saying that "there is no religious ceremony of any kind connected
with this Holi, but there is more than any reasonable amount of foolish
practices".
This remarkable social event that
occurs during the full moon of the month of Phalguna
(February-March) actually begins the preceding night, with the burning of a
ceremonial pile of wooden logs, branches, dry twigs and even clothes: called
Holika dahan. The next day is well
known, or notorious, for unbridled revelry and the resplendant use of dry and
wet colours of all imaginagble hues, flung at both willing and hapless humans.
These come with bursts of cheer and a lot of dances to the rhythmic beat of drums
as well full throated singing of folk or saucy songs. It ends normally by the
afternoon or evening, with a lot of merriment, bonhomie and sweets. Several
communities, however, stretch it from three days to a whole fortninght of
celebrations, as their special festival of Spring and some go on for even
longer stretches.
To trace the origins of Holi, one
would have to go back several centuries, meandering through tales, religious
legends and practices, as precise historical records are anathema to the major
religion of India: that commerates events and cylcles of yugas, rather than be
unnecessarily bothered about factual dates. It is mention in Dandin's Sanskrit play Dashakumara-charita and in Sri Harsha's Ratnavali , both of which
were composed in the seventh century of the present era. But, studies of
cultural practices reveal that it must have been celebrated by indegenous
people even earlier, well before formal religion adopted it, by inserting
sacred lore. The Puranas have also
some references, but dating them is a herculean task that only geniuses like
Horace H Wilson or Rajendra Hazra could attempt, and could still not be too
sure. We have ample testimony in Mughal and contemporary miniature paintings
and other cultural expressions of the medieval period, telling us so many vivid
stories about Holi that centred mainly on Krishna, Radha and the gopis.
Europeans were amazed to note this unique festival of colours in India and the
Oxford Dictionary seems to have had a special fascination for it, right from
the 17th century: calling it ‘Houly’ in 1687, ‘Hoolee’ in 1698, ‘Huli’ in 1798,
‘Hoh-lee’ in 1809 and so on.
Legends and practices differ a lot in
this vast subcontinent, yet within this diversity there is a strange unspoken
strand of ‘unity’, where the main celebrations and the period of Holi are
concerned. Centuries of Brahmanical persistence or persuasion must have
resulted in this convergence of heterogeneous celebrations into one major
festival. Old narratives mention certain parts of India where the festival of
Holi was earlier neither not important nor were their own Spring festivals
forsaken and some were held on different dates. But by now, thanks to the
churning of peoples and customs in India and also the semi-conscious cultural
homogenisation injected by the ubiquitous Hindi cinema, this event has now
become a remarkable pan-Indian phenomenon that takes place everywhere around
the same time. It goes by different names, however, like Phagua in Bihar, Dol-Jatra
in Bengal, Odisha and Assam, though Phakuwa
is also another name in that state. We will encounter more names, as we travel.
In Gujarat, Holi is a two day
festival, where raw coconuts and corn are thrown into the Holika bonfire. The rabi
crop is ripe in this state, as in some other parts of India, which calls for
more vigorous celebration, with dance, food and music. A mock fight between young girls and boys for
a pot of butter milk hung aloft, adds to the general entertainment and a
sublime sensual touch. It is said that there was an old custom in some places
where the women of families beat their brothers-in-law with a sari rolled up
like a stick. But when it comes to beating, the Lath Maar Holi of Barsana, a town near Mathura in the Braj region
of UP, takes the cake. Here, women
literally rain blows on the menfolk with
sticks and the poor fellows save their precious heads with sheilds. Some seem to be enjoying this teasing act, as they
sing provocative songs in return, leading to more friendly blows aimed at them.
Now that it is on the tourist before foreigners and television, the blows are
getting rather energetic, as cheering visitors keep clicking photos. Needless
to say, the 'real' Holi is supposed to be in Mathura, Vrindavan and Braj wherea
Krishna-Kanhaiya spent his early years.
But, as
we move from the Yamuna to the banks of the Ganga, we find Holi celebrated as
'Ganga Mela' in Kanpur to commemorate the bravery of the soldiers of this
region who fought the British in 1857, under the leadership of Nana Sahib. Further downstream, in Benaras where mega
stars have poured their hearts out with Holi songs and drum-beats, the
wrestling matches on the muddy banks of the holy river add to the fun. The Phagua of Bihar, which is a
predominantly Bhojpuri version, is celebrated with wild abandon and wet mud,
clay and even muck often substitute colours.
The intoxicating bhaang made
from cannabis, milk and spices and served as thandai has been an essential feature of the celebrations. The
heady drink elevates the mood even
higher, as dancers swing feverishly to the resounding beat of the dholak and to
the incessant clouds of multiple colours.
As one goes
up the Kumaon Hills, the Holika pyre,
which is called ‘Cheer Bandhan’
becomes the centre-point of the fest, for communities to start building up from
a fortnight before the actual day of Dhulandi. These huge piles of dried logs and twigs
bring cheer during this last bite of the
cold in the hills are jealously guarded by local communities, so that other
villagers or localities do not steal from their treasure.
Odisha and Bengal commemorate Radha Krishna during their ‘Dol Purnima’ or the swing festival and
it is said that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had a lot to do with its conversion
into a semi-religious event in both the States. It is believed that Chaitanya exported the Dol Purnima of Puri to Bengal through his disciples and pilgrims to
Bengal, as Puri was his main base. The Hari
Bhakti Bilas and other contemporary literature mention this Dol-utshob but there is no evidence of
its celebration in Chaitanya's own Nabadwip in his biographies nor in the
Vaishnava Padabalis. Roop Goswami,
Basu Ghosh, Shivram, Udhav Das, who were contemporary litterateurs of Chaitanya
wrote about the Hari Leela celebrations in this province during Holi. The Irish
Hindu devotee, Sister Nivedita wrote a wonderful piece on the Dol Jatra of Bengal which was published
in 1913 from London, after her death. It describes Dol Purnima as the birthday
of Sri Chaitanya in poetic hues: “On full moon of the beautiful month of Phalgun, when the ashoka tree and the
mango are in bloom, when the foliage buds of the leaf almond are long and
slender and when the scarlet plumes of the palaash stand out on its naked
branches, occurs the Holi festival or Dol
Jatra, of some long pre-Hindu people”. The Pracheen Smritis mention Holi being celebrated in this region in
the 13th century, well before Chatanya, mainly by "lowers classes who used
filthy language". It is apparent that till then, formal Brahmanism had
reservations about this celebration of the masses and in the joyful mixing of
different strata and genders, in such an unrestrained manner. Prahlada's moving
story was still waiting in the wings, at this stage.
But
before we come to the pre-Hindu origins, let us quickly go over some other
regions like Maharashtra where it is celebrated as Shimga and Goa or Konkan
where the spring festival goes by the name Shigmo.
In the southern part of the Konkan, it is known as Ukkuli, whereas in Kerala this celebration is called Manjalkuli (turmeric bath) and is
celebrated on a low key among only students, thereby revealing its late
introduction from the North. Karnataka insists that it is not the demoness Holika that is burnt in the sacred fire,
but the naughty erotic god Kama-Devata
and hence Holi is called Kama-dahana.
There is a unique
folk dance like Bedara Vesha
performed in some parts of Karnataka. Telengana also calls it Kama Dahana, but Andhra celebrates it as
part of Vasant Panchami, like the
Tamils. In this Nadu, it is also Panguni-Uthram because of
location of the Pole star in the sky. Interestingly, though Holika was normally not burnt, many
pre-Hindu deities celebrate their marriage anniversaries on this date, which
was obviously an easy route to assimilate them into the broad-band of Hindu worship.
Holi’s association with this demoness Holika needs a little more mention, as she is the aunt and the
chief villain in the story of Prahlada, the virtuous son of the invincible but terrible
demon, Hiranyakashipu. In fact, Lord Vishnu himself had to make an urgent trip
to Marta-loka as the Narasimha Avatar
to vanquish him, and that too, through a very ingenious strategy of perfect
timing and positioning. The story is that Holika
took the child Prahlada on her lap and entered the fire, as she knew that no
harm would befall her while her nephew would surely be burnt. Thank God: just the
opposite happened, as her cloak of immunity failed and she was roasted alive.
Our Prahlada, however, came out of the blaze totally unscathed, due to sheer
devotion. The morbid tale of Holika or
Dhundha devouring little children needs to be understood in the
context of the numerous viral diseases that arrived, invariably with the advent
of spring and took their heaviest toll on young children. Holika's destruction can thus be interpreted as a symbolic victory
over the goddess of diseases, but it also ensured the 'spring cleaning' of
winter materials and possible sources of germs, as well as the clearing of
broken twigs that lay all over the ground.
The other story refers to the
defeat of the god of love, Kamadeva,
India's Cupid or Eros, who was burnt to
ashes by Siva. This could, again, be allegorical and meant to ensure that
sudden burst of libidinous energies during this free-for-all festival required
self control, or else it may destroy itself. The ritual singing of obscene
songs has been noted by outsiders, all the way from the Middle Ages down to the
European travellers. Hindus have also never shied away from this truth, and it
is mentioned in several texts. Early in the last century, MM Underhill the British observer had commented about the lewd
language that was used in Holi as had William Crooke in his famous book ‘Popular
Religion and Folklore’ that was published in the 1880s. Underhill also
mentioned that “dancing by men and boys of the lower castes is a dance peculiar
to this feast” and then went on to state that Holi drew the people of other
castes as well. He quotes an ancient authority that says “touching of the low
caste on the second day of Holi, followed by bathing means that all kinds of
illness are destroyed”. Was this to ensure greater immunity among those who are
usually more sanitised and thus prey to bacterial attacks? Religion in India
has muliple layers and the subtexts need to be examined scientifically before
jumping to conclusions, either way. Besides, as Tagore introduced it in
Santiniketan as a very 'cultured' and exquisitely crafted event, it brought in
a new dimension to an old celebration, proving that innovations and packaging
are always possible.
Holi is not confined to India and Nepal: it was carried all over by our
diaspora. In Suriname and Trinidad-Tobago, it is still celebrated as Phagwaa. In Guyana, it is actually a
national holiday and people of all races, colours and religions participate.
Indians in Fiji and Mauritius must still have their Phaag Gaain folk songs of Holi, with dholaks and cheerful dances, even centuries after they left India
and continue to remain so far away.
A very interesting recent
development is that the Indian concept of throwing colours in joy has caught
the imagination of Europeans and Americans. There are now several community
festivals or even commercial events, where thousands of white men and women
outdo Indians in revelry. Holi has also featured in popular reality television show on America's
CBS and NBC and many musicians and bands adopted its ecstasy, like Goodluck in South Africa, Kesha in the USA
and the Regina Spektor's 'Fidelity'. Thus, Holi has won over initial misgivings
by the West and its joy, colours, merry songs and dances have started charming
millions of humans. India has one more cultural export to its already long
list, and Holi Hai may soon be as
common as Hare Krishna!
(English Version of Jawhar Sircar's Article On Holi Published In Anand Bazar Patrika on 5th March,2015)
