Holika Dahan and Holi 2021: Holi is an important festival for the people of the Indian subcontinent which is celebrated to mark the beginning of the spring. The festival celebrates the full moon of the Falgun month according to Hindu Panchang. Holi is a festival of colours and laughter. It is one of the major and famous festivals in India, which is now being celebrated all over the world today.
The festival, called the Festival of Colours, is traditionally celebrated for two days. On the first day, Holika is burnt, also known as Holika Dahan. On the second day, mainly Dhulandi, Dhurdi, or Dhulivandan which are other names of Holi, people throw colours, gulal, etc on each other’s faces. The songs of Holi are sung by playing the drums on this day.
When is Holika Dahan and Holi in 2021? (Holi 2021 Date)
Holi is on March 29, 2021, Monday.
Holika Dahan is on Sunday, March 28, 2021, and Holika Dahan Muhurat is from 18:37 to 20:56 with a time duration of 02 hours 20 minutes.
- Purnima Tithi Begins – 03:27 am on March 28, 2021
- Purnima Tithi Ends – 12:17 am on March 29, 2021
Why is Holi Celebrated
There are many stories about the origins of this festival and the most popular is Prahalad one. Once there was the king named Hiranykashyap, who considered himself to be the strongest, so he hated the gods, but his son Prahlad was the ultimate devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranykashyap didn’t like this and he made a plan.
According to which he asked his sister Holika (Holika was blessed that she could not be burned from fire) to sit on the altar of Fire with Prahlad. Prahlad sat on the altar with Holika and became absorbed in the devotion of his God. Suddenly Holika started burning because she misused her blessing. Prahlad walked away unscathed while Holika burned to the death.
In some parts of India, Holi is also celebrated in remembrance of the pure love of Radha-Krishna. According to the plot, Bal-Gopal once asked Mata Yashoda why he was not white like Radha himself. Yashoda told him in a funny way that if he put the colour on Radha’s face, then she would look like her. Kanha then played Holi with Radha and Gopis with colours and since then the festival is being celebrated as a festival of colours.
