Festivals are an integral part of social, cultural and religious fabrics. Wherever one goes can find some special festival celebration. You can rejoice in the culture, music or religious festivals across the globe. Some important festival around the world are- burning man of Nevada, carnival of brazil and Goa, La tomatina spain, king’s day on nether land, Christmas,Navidad, Eid, Diwali, Holi etc.

Holi History

Holi 2022 is going to be a mega festival in India falling in the month of February-march. The history of Holi festival can be traced back to the Indian mythology. The popular legend is of King Hiranay kshyap and Prahlad. The story says that there was a demon king known as Hiranay Kshyap who was against Lord Vishnu and wanted his subject to pray to him rather lord Vishnu. He was a tyrant. This brutal ruler had a son called Prahlad who was a devotee to Lord Vishnu and had a great reverence for Vishnu. Despite his forbiddance his son was adamant on his faith towards Lord. He decided to incinerate his son and contrived a plan with his sister Holika. Being furious father asked his sister Holika to plan for Prahlad end. Holika had special shroud which could prevent her from fire. She sat on pyre holding prahlad in her lap and let the pyre ablaze. By the grace of God , a torrent came and the strong blow of winds threw the shroud away from Holika and instead covered Prahlad. Thus Prahlad was saved.

Lord appeared in the form of Narsing (Human lion), a demi god from a pillar and slew Hiranya kshyap . as hiranyakshyap was blessed with divine power not to be killed by a human. Thus the wrath of this tyrant was suppressed. Just to mark the safety of Prahlad from fire Holi celebration is done. This day according to the crop cycle has harvest significance and takes place as a thanksgiving day for a good harvest.

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Holi(होली) 2022 Date & Timings

This year in 2022 Holi is going to fall on 18^th march. This festival is celebrated in the last full moon of the Lunar month of Phalguna Purnima this start at 1:30 pm on march 17, 2022 and ends on 12:47 Pm on March 18, 2022. Book Maharaja Express

Date Calendar 

Holi Background

Holi is one of the most popular festivals of India and celebration is symbolic of the eternal love of Radha Krishna. This festival denotes happiness and bliss by colours. Colour Holi marks the end of winters and celebrates new blossoms. This festival gives a chance to get rid of past conflicts and extend forgiveness in the subcontinent and other parts of the world among the Hindu community with great pomp and show.

Normally Holi falls in the middle of March according to the Gregorian calendar and is one of India’s grandest festivals. This festival is dedicated to the powers of lord Vishnu and is symbolic of victory of good over evil. It also honours the eternal love of radha Krishna so this is a major festival of Mathura vrindavan and entire Brij area. Millions of devotees came to witness the famed Barsana holi every year. Which is also a crop festival.

Holi Activities

Like most popular festivals Holi offers plethora of opportunities to take part in cultural activities. There are some playful activities to be enjoyed during the holi festival.

Sprinkling of Colours- Most famous Holi activity is throwing of coloured water and color powder on each other. This exciting event takes place in the narrow alleys, at houses, in the markets. The colours of holi marks the vibrancy of life.

Bonfire-Just to commemorate the event of Holika burning and safety of Prahlad ,  People make large bonfires. The fire scares the evil spirits and reminds of Holika’s demise. For the purpose people bring wooden logs and do pooja. In the evening fire is lit and people bring wooden logs and do pooja. In the evening fire is lit and people do circum ambulation singing songs with mirth. They take burning charcoals to houses and also make bonfire at homes. The festivities begin on the night before Holi and  people engage in dances and chantings.

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Worship of Radha– It is considered  Radha is the first lady to have colours from the hands of Krishna. To pay a reverence to Radha people sing Holi songs and want to appease the deity.

Drinks made of Bhang– On the eve of Holi a cannabis paste is prepared and applied with dry fruits and mixed with cold drinks. As the merrymakers feel tired of day long activities of dances, greetings, they consume drinks of cannabis .

Holi Songs

All the Holi songs picturised by bollywood show the artists enjoying the festivals while drinking thandai. It is said Holi is never complete without enjoying the Prasad that is a cup of thandai and only when you are super charged after few cups of thandai then you are ready to play colours in an eventful manner. In Varanasi which is the city of Shiva you can relish thandai in all the seasons at a special shop where you can even choose how much paste of Cannabis (bhang) is to be added to your drink. Our advice is to try a little quantity as experiencing this psychotropic substance can be cumbersome for many.

Hola Mohalla

Sikhs the disciples of Guru Gobind Singh are martials who participated warfare and kept arms. On the day of Holi the Sikhs gather at Anandpur sahib- The birth place of Khalsa and Nanded, on this day of Holi the khalsa after gathering participates in medieval war games. They showcase their choicest studs and display their powers in tent pegging. A charge is organized in which the Sikhs participate with fervor.

Nihangs the favorite soldiers of Guru Gobind singh also known as Guru Ki Ladli Fauj are known for their special attire and how they dress up with ancient arms like daggers and chahrams on their long turbans. The Nihangs too get engrossed in preparing Thandai a special drink made with paste of cannabis leaves, milk and dry fruits.

Meetings & Greetings – During the festivities people meet their relatives and friends and near ones. They have the blessing of the elderly and shower love on the young ones.

Holi Pooja Vidhi

The two days extravaganza filled with mirth, colours and Guziya (a delicacy specially prepared on the occasion) gives delight to the merry makers. The day is glorified with the worship of Lord Vishnu who slew malevolent demon Hiranyakshyap and holika. It is believed that all kinds of fear can be warded off doing Holika puja. It bestows power, prosperity and wealth. Doing holi a pooja at the right time showers grace of god while wrong time pooja can bring wrath

You should keep the ingredients like rice, Roli, Incense stick, dhoop, gulal coconut etc in a plate. The place where Holika is kept is rinsed with cowdung. A wooden pole is kept in the center and the cow dung cakes known as “Gulairine” piled up. Holika pile is decorated. During Holika dahan the idol of Prahlad is taken out and four beads of dung are kept safe before the bonfire. Now get ready with your worship plate and take sankalp(pledge) and remember Lord Ganesha followed by Goddess Ambika. Now remember Bhakt Prahlad and stand in front of Holi with folded hands and offer rice, lentils and other materials. Now after the holika is burnt take the fire from bonfire to your home to burn home holika.

Mathura  Holi 2022

If you are passionate about Holi celebration do not miss the opportunity of Mathura holi 2022. Make 4 days Mathura Barsana tour plan and capture the memorable festive event in your camera. You also plan to witness the activity of Panda pervading through the Holi pyre at Falen near Kosi. By this time you also get thrilled to watch the latthmar holi at Barsana.

 Best Holi Captions For Instagram

• Burn the flames of tyranny and clamors for victory
• Sprinkle the colours of love and compassion in your life
• Holi is the festival of unity and everyone has some colour
• Get your ego dissolved in the pernicious fire and be simpleton
• Lets celebrate unity and brotherhood
• Holi means – Universal fraternity
• Happy Holi, united Holi
• Holi is the festival of emotions
• Blushed my cheeks, colours my soul
• Spread positivity and kick darkness
• Let your bad habits burn and follow good
• Holi opens new Vistas
• Style is the man, colours are just add on
• Holi make the kings and paupers friends together
• Do not drop until the water stops

The post Holi 2022- Date, Time, Significance & Pooja Vidhi appeared first on Taj With Guide Blog.

The important Holi festival of North India normally falls in the month of either March or April. This is basically a crop festival and is being celebrated by the masses since time immemorial. The festival is celebrated to commemorate the event of the burning of Holika the legendary sister of Hirana Kashaya. Mathura Holi is famous all over the globe.

The fables say that Prahalad was a devotee to Lord Vishnu and was admonition worshipping the Lord against the will of his biological father-Hirna Kashyap. His sister Holika managed to sit on pyre with Prahalad in her lap in the efforts to immolate Prahalad, her nephew her attempts were foiled by the savior, master Vishnu.

Mathura, Vrindavan Barsana Holi Celebration

The festival of Holi is celebrated throughout the country, but in the Brij Area of Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana it is celebrated with more religious zeal. If you are desirious to witness Mathura Holi celebrations you should plan Agra Mathura Tour keeping in mind the dates of Holi festivals. The fact behind is that the masses consider Lord Krishna as one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The popular Hindu myths describe that Lord Krishna used to play Holi with his follows-Gop-gopikas in Brij Bhoomi.

What is the time of Mathura Holi ?

This celebration goes on for nearly a month in Brij comprising of the towns of Nandgam, barsana, Kosi, Mathura, and Vrindavan. Even though for 10 days it is with utmost zeal as Lord Krishna used to play it with flowers, in the remembrance it is played with colors. This year in 2020 Holika festival is going to be celebrated on the 10th of march. Book Maharaja Express

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Panda penetrating through the Holika flames at Phalain-

This year 2020 on the eve of the Holika festival following the age-old traditions Monu panda is going to create history. On the 10th of march in the village of Phalain in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, this great occurrence is going to take place. Early in the morning at 4 pm after having a Holi bath, Monu Panda is going to walk over the holy flames.

This has been already done by the panda family members in recent years. This denotes the age-old legend of the story of Prahlad and his aunt Holika. The legend says that Prahlad the devotee of Lord Vishnu was saved from the flames by the grace of Lord Vishnu. Holika tried to immolate Prahlad by placing him in her lap. 

This event of panda penetrating through the flames is done with lots of rituals and thousands of spectators come to witness this great event.   

Mathura Holi 2022

This is worth mentioning an occurrence which you should not miss at any cost. The well-known panda from the nearby village of Fallen or Mathura District walks through the flames of the Holi bonfire. Of course, without any chemicals to prevent fire, as they say just by the grace of God, the priest walks over the flames on the day of the full moon to commemorate the story of Prahalad.

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Couple of years back I had a chance to be a witness to this event among thousands of spectators. I was told that they stop taking food couple of days back and remain on fast. Before walking on fire the dip himself into sacred prahalad kund lots of villages come from the surrounds and engage themselves in dancing and singing folk songs.

Lathmar Holi of Barsana-

Barsana is celebrated with the birth of Radha- the consort of Lord Krishna. This small town located close to Mathura, attract the number of tourist for its famed Lathmar Holi. Lath literally means stick as the name signifies in these celebration ladies engage in a mock fight with the men having sticks in their hands. The ladies attack the men in return try to avoid the attacks of the fair sex.

How to Gear up-

Before booking the Holy celebration tour you should keep in mind the actual date of Holi which varies every year. You also note that this is celebrated a week before in Mathura and the surroundings. Clad yourself with such clothes which are not valuable as you might have a sprinkling of colours. Have the services of some local tour guide for the support and the advice.

The post Mathura Holi Complete Facts appeared first on Taj With Guide Blog.