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Vimla Patil

The winter mists are vanishing into the spring sunshine. The last chilly winds blow as the Holi bonfires burn in every village. Holi is here with its plentiful harvests and it's time to celebrate!

India is one of the few countries of the world where the climate varies immensely from north to south. From snowfalls in the mountains to heavy rains in the plains and scorching sunshine in the tropical jungles, the country has every kind of scenario in weather. And winter, which brings snow, mist and nippy winds, obviously means different things to different regions.

In some northern parts, the weather is truly cold with mist lying on the ground till late in the day. The nights are freezing and farm life in most villages comes to a standstill. In the South, the weather is never that cold, especially along the coconut palm-lined coast, but there is a nip in the air and the flower markets are full of marigolds and chrysanthemums, which are less fragrant than the summer crops of juhi and mogra.

But as the winter in its various avatars comes to an end and winter winds lose their chill, the harvests of sugarcane, jowar, and rice ripen in the mellow sunshine and are ready to be collected by February-March. Apple orchards in the north, orange groves in central India and papaya, banana and custard apple plantations in the South bring forth truckloads of fruit. Sugar factories begin to process the juice of the honeyweed to make huge quantities of jaggery and refined sugar. Moreover, vegetable markets, too, are full of luscious greens and gourds, root vegetables and a large variety of beans so that farm feasts and picnics become special pleasures of the season.

Despite the many joys of the rich harvesting season, Indians wait anxiously for the coming of spring for many reasons. Firstly, in the psyche of Indians, spring or Vasant Ritu is irrevocably linked with romance. As the trees and creepers burst into blossoming mango trees, lovers arrange their trysts and meet secretly under scented bowers.

These trysts, specially those of the divine lovers Krishna and Radha, are profusely praised and beautifully described in folk and classical poetry and is also portrayed in the dance, drama and music of India. The romantic element of springtime is so deeply entrenched in the minds of Indians, that even simple household songs sung during weddings are also based on the theme of springtime and Holi and the eagerness with which lovers meet each other.

The coming of spring also signifies the throwing away of old burdens, crusty old lifestyles which confine people to the warmth of their homes. People begin their outdoor life with community dances, burn away the residual dried leaves and twigs of winter and commemorate the greening of the earth once again through their celebrations and merriment. Additionally, every religion has festivities which celebrate some myth or the other to symbolize the victory of good over evil, of joy over sorrow and light over darkness and Holi is no exception to this rule.

Holi is celebration of all three. The full moon of the month of Falgun, the last month of the Hindu calendar, marks Holi, a colourful festival which has such a three-dimensional significance.

Firstly, because of the romance of nature, which blossoms in the form of flowers and fruit on every tree, Holi is a festival of flowers and colours and is associated with the divine lover Krishna playing with colours - coloured water and gulal or coloured powder -- with the gopis or girls of Brindavan.

As an annual reminder of this celestial dance of joy, people go from house to house smearing gulal on the faces of their friends. Coloured water, made by soaking kesariya flowers in water, is sprayed upon all merrymakers with miniature pichkaris made from bamboo or metal.

The whole atmosphere is alive with music, feasting, festive family gatherings and the antics of mischief-makers, who use the occasion to tease young girls. Holi, in this aspect, is equated to the spring rites held in many countries in which there are always erotic connotations underlining the revelry.

As a harvest festival, Holi is celebrated on the full moon night with a community bonfire, around which people gather to give Agni (fire), the messenger of the gods, new food grains and sweetmeats as their seasonal offerings. Coconuts, bananas, sheaves of new corn, fruit and root vegetables, fresh from the farms, are thrown into the fire during the fun and frolic of dancing around the bonfire.

The next morning, the dust and ash of this holy fire is venerated in a ceremony called Dhulivandan. This dust is taken home by each community member to bring happiness into his house. In rural India, before Holi -- also called Phag or Shimga -- houses are cleaned, painted and decorated to welcome spring.

A third aspect of Holi is the celebration of the burning of the demon-ess Holika, the sister of the demon king Hiranyakashyapu, who tortured his own son Prahlad because of his devotion to Shri Vishnu. Hiranyakashyapu asked Holika to lead the young Prahlad into a fire so that he would die while she, because of a boon given to her earlier, would escape the fire unscathed. By a divine miracle, Holika was burnt to cinders while Pralhad survived because of his devotion to god. This myth is also brought back to life each year as idols of Holika are burnt in the bonfires with shouts declaring the victory of good over evil.

In the old days, Holi was a much more leisurely festival, celebrated by whole communities who stopped work for days to dance and feast. Rang bhar se, chunariya bhige was the erotic theme of the day. Raas and other folk dances in the North and a variety of colourful folk dances in the South mark the festival. A number of people made and drank bhang to the point of intoxication and some of the revelry resulted in misdeeds and destructive activities.

With city people getting busier with work over the years, Holi is a one day festival. This has reduced antisocial activities in urban areas. However, in the heart of rural India, these practices still continue and reports in the newspapers continue to narrate roadside hungamas or lawlessness and drunken brawls among merrymakers. The festival of Holi also received a national and dignified, modern character when the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made it a practice to visit her family and friends with gulal on the Dhulivandan day to felicitate them. Her gesture gave the festival a new meaning of brotherhood and goodwill.

Holi is celebrated with special sweets. In western India, puranpoli, gurpoli and sakharpoli offer a taste of the newly harvested jaggery or sugar. In the north, gujias made with khoya and nut stuffing and sugar batashas are shared by families and friends. In the south, different varieties of sweet rice and fruit mixtures are offered to guests with their sherbets or cold beverages.

As the sun sets on the Holi (Dhulivandan) day and the full moon of Falgun rises resplendently in the clear, starry firmament, people retire after hours of merrymaking, tired from playing with colours and flowers and satiated after feasting on fabulous harvest meals.

Photgraphs by Jewella C Miranda

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