Holi : India's Colourful Carnival by Jawhar Sircar

  

           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)

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