Holi
Holi is a Hindu spring festival celebrated especially in India and Nepal with bonfires, colored powders, music, and communal festivities.
Lathmar Holi: A Holi celebration in Barsana and Nandgaon, Uttar Pradesh, where women playfully strike men with sticks. Its stick-play dramatizes a local legend associated with Krishna and Radha.
Holika and Prahlada: A Hindu devotional story in which Prahlada survives a fire while the demoness Holika is burned. The story is commemorated by Holika Dahan bonfires before the color festivities.
Hindu calendar: A system of lunisolar calendars used to determine Hindu religious dates and observances. Holi’s date shifts each year because it follows a lunar phase within this calendar.
Bhakti: A Hindu devotional path centered on loving devotion to a deity. Krishna-centered Holi traditions express devotion through music, stories, and playful ritual.
Hola Mohalla: A Sikh festival of martial arts, processions, and community service held near the time of Holi. Its timing overlaps Holi, but its Sikh identity and martial traditions distinguish it.
Holika Dahan: A ritual bonfire held on the eve of Holi, associated with the burning of Holika. It gives the festival its defining night-time rite and a story of protection.
Purnima: The full-moon day in the Hindu lunar calendar. Holi is observed around Phalguna Purnima, anchoring its date to the full moon.
Spring equinox: The astronomical moment when the Sun crosses the celestial equator, making day and night nearly equal in length. Holi marks spring seasonally, but its lunar date is not fixed to the equinox.
Phagu Purnima: A Nepalese spring festival associated with Holi, celebrated with colors and public festivities. It shows Holi’s established Nepalese form and its regional calendar.
Krishna: A major Hindu deity, worshipped as an incarnation of Vishnu and central to devotional traditions. Stories of Krishna’s playful use of color shape Holi customs in many regions.