15 February 2018 
The festival of Holi brings a lot of fun and enjoyment for people of India. The spirit of this festival is quite noticeable from different Holi festivities. A number of vibrant activities create a special atmosphere for Holi and its celebration. People cheerfully enjoy all the traditions and rituals related to this beautiful festival along with many fun-filled activities making this festival a lifetime experience. Even Bollywood is not untouched with the influence of this beautiful & colorful festival. There are many things about Holi that makes it an everlasting celebration. Explore some of them.
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Holi celebration is incomplete without Thandai as it holds an important place in celebrating this festival. With a glassful of refreshing and healthy Thandai, people get rid all their exhaustion and dance on the tunes of this festival. The tradition of Thandai exists more in Northern India. Banaras is said to be the hub of Thandai. Thandai is prepared using milk, rose petals, saffron, cardamom and dry fruits. Other parts of India also enjoy this cooling drink on the occasion of Holi.
Popularly performed as Holika Dahan, it is an integral part and important activity of Holi. It takes place just one day before the Holi (the day of playing of colors). People also call it Chhoti Holi. Holika Dahan is really a popular tradition of Holi, which is celebrated with much fervor and enthusiasm as symbol of the victory of good over evil. Several legends are related with this ancient tradition. Therefore, it is difficult to decide that since how long this ritual is being performed. The most popular legend attached to Holika Dahan is about devil sister of wicked king Hirankashyapa. His sister was having a blessing of not being burnt by fire. She tried to kill his son Prahlad (a great devotee of Lord Narayana) from fire. However, she herself burnt in the fire. Thus, this ritual is performed as a victory of good over evil.
On main day of Holi, people play colors especially in North India. Most of the North Indian states celebrate this festival of colors with complete enthusiasm. People take extreme delight in spraying colorful water over each other using pichkari or buckets of it. Small balloons filled with color water are also thrown over each other. People also apply colors on each other and give hugs to each other for wishing Holi.
Along with enjoying a number of activities, preparation of various delicacies is part of Holi celebration. People prepare gujhiya, mathri, malpua and many other traditional delicacies with great joy on the eve of Holi. These delicacies are integral part of Holi celebration.
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Traditions followed in the Holi festival varies a bit and sometimes from one destination to another. It is celebrated with maximum zeal in Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana and Nandgaon – places associated with Lord Krishna. In Barsana, it is called as Lathmaar Holi. In Punjab and Haryana, people play Dulandi Holi. Most of the cities in India enjoy breaking of matki on the eve of Holi.
Any kind of rituals we perform, the spirit of Holi is always high in India. It is a beautiful festival which creates the strength of brotherhood and brings people close to each other. This is what matters the most about this festival than anything else.
