Holi Festival in 2020: Puja Muhurat

Holi is one of the significant festivals celebrated in India. This festival is all about colors, gulal and water balloons. Holi celebrated in the regions of Barsana and Nirali is very popular all over India and people living abroad. In the year 2020, Holi will be celebrated on 10th March, which is a Tuesday.

How And When Is Holi Celebrated?

According to the Hindu Panchang, the festival of Holi is celebrated on the day of Poornima in the month of Phalgun. One day before Holi, Holika Dahan is done which is also named as Choti Holi. People fill colored water in pichkari and throw water on each. This is a festival which is celebrated by all kids and elders with equal enthusiasm and zeal.

Throwing colors on each other is done until the afternoon. After that people take a bath and wear new clothes. People cook various delicacies and sweets like namakpare, shakkarpare, gujiya, chaat and dahi bade, and savor all these delicacies with family, friends and relatives. People also go to visit their friends and relatives in the evening. This festival is also known as “Falguni” as it is celebrated in the Hindu month Falgun.

Holi In Ancient Times

Holi is a festival mentioned in many ancient scripts. This festival holds significance for many poets as Holi is mentioned in a large number of poems in the ancient times. It is mentioned in many cultural books. Out of them, the most popular are Narad Puran and Bhavishya Puran.

There is a place in Vindhya region named Ramgargh, where a 300 BC ancient scripture was found, in which Holi was mentioned. There are many ancient temples where there are idols and pictures of Holi being celebrated. There is a temple of 16th Century in the capital of Vijay Nagar which is named Hampi, where there are a large number of pictures of the festival of Holi being celebrated by the people.

Mythological Importance of Holi

There are many stories and tales that are related to Holi. Out of all the stories, the story of Holika and Prahlaad is considered to be the major one. According to this, Hirankashyap, who was the king of devils, had a son named Prahlaad, who was a big devotee of Lord Vishnu. He was not happy with this and after trying hard to convince him not to worship Vishnu, he tried to kill him.

After a large number of failed attempts, he called his sister Holika to kill Prahlaad by holding him in her lap while sitting on the pyre. Holika was blessed with the power where she couldn’t be burnt with fire. She sat on the pyre holding Prahlaad. Holika was burnt while Prahlaad survived safely with the blessings of Lord Vishnu. This is the incident that marks the importance of Holika Dahan, where logs of fire are burnt by people to show the victory of good over evil.

According to another ancient story, Radha’s fair complexion was a reason that Lord Krishna was jealous of her. It was because of this reason that he put gulal or color on her face. This act which was done out of jealousy was enjoyed by everyone, and since that day all the Gopis and Gopals started playing with gulal which was later named as the festival of Holi.

Types Of Holi Celebrated In India Lathmar Holi in Barsana

Holi is celebrated only one day in all the parts of India except Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Nandgaon and Barsana. These are the places where the festival of Holi is celebrated for about one week. This festival is celebrated in different ways each day for the whole week. Out of all these places, Lathmar Holi of Barsana is very popular.

Holi Celebrated in Banke Bihari Mandir

Banke Bihari Temple is one of the major temples of India which is located in Vrindavan. People come from far away to take part in the Holi celebration done in the Banke Bihari Temple, Vrindavan. As soon as the doors of the temple are opened, people rush towards the idol of Banke Bihari and competes to put the colour on his face. There are long queues formed outside the temple for coloring the idol of Banke Bihari in the temple.

Holi With Flowers in Vrindavan

Holi in Vrindavan is celebrated with flowers, and attracts people from all parts of the country and abroad. This festival is celebrated in the month of Phalgun on the day of Ekadashi. It is very important to take care of time as Holi at this place is celebrated for only 15-20 minutes and not more than that. At 4 in the evening, the priest opens the doors of the temple and throws flowers on the devotees. This is a beautiful experience in itself, and that is the reason why it attracts many people.

We hope that your Holi in the year 2020 remains auspicious and happy. We wish you and your family a very Happy Holi!