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The Burning
of Holika
This is a
very famous account in deed and the one that is most often
recounted when people are asked about Holi.
The story
is part of the bigger story about
King Hiranyakashyapu (or Hiranyakashyap or Hiranya Kashipu) and
his desire to be seen as a great man. To fulfill his desire he
did the required tup (penance) and was asked what he wanted. He
asked that it would not be possible for him to die as a result
of a human or animal, that he would not die either in his home
or outside and that he would not die in the day or at night. He
was granted his wish and so felt invincible and told his people
to worship him as a god. Everyone did with the exception of his
son Prahlad. Prahlad refused to see his father as a god and
stayed devoted to Vishnu.
This made
Prahlad's father very angry so he made various attempts to have
Prahlad killed. These attempts included telling Prahlad to hold
a red-hot pole, telling him to jump off a steep cliff and even
getting an elephant to walk over Prahlad. Each time Prahlad did
as he was told but he also chanted Vishnu's name and was saved.
It
is from one of these attempts that we find the most probable
origin of Holi and why the festival is called Holi. In this
particular attempt on Prahlad's life King Hiranyakashyapu called
upon his sister Holika for help. Holika had a special gift that
prevented her from being harmed by fire. So King Hiranyakashyapu
asked her to sit on a bonfire with Prahlad on her lap in the
hope that this would kill Prahlad. But as before Prahlad was not
worried and chanted Vishnu's name and was not hurt, but Holika
burnt to her death .
It
should be noted that in different parts of India different
reasons are given for Holika's death. The different reasons
are;
- Vishnu
stepped in and hence Holika burnt,
- Holika
was given the power by Vishnu on the understanding that it
can never be used to bring harm to anyone,
- Holika
was a good person and it was the clothes that she wore
that gave her the power and knowing that what was
happening was wrong, she gave them to Prahlad and hence
died herself
- she
was in fact a she-demon and so good won against evil.
But no
matter which of those reasons they take it to mean, for all of
them the fire burnt on the eve of Holi symbolizes the burning
of Holika.
The story
as a whole is testament to the power of devotions (bhakta) over
the evils represented by King Hiranyakashyapu, as Prahlad never
lost his faith. It teaches people that there may be people that
are very powerful in the world, but no matter how powerful, they
will succumb to God, making the only true source of power
devotion to God.
So we can
see that for many people, Holi celebrates the death of Holika in
order to save Prahlad and we see where Holi gets its name. The
night before Holi pyres are burnt in North India in keeping with
this tradition. It should also be noted that in some parts of
India the day is actually called Holika. There are other
activities associated with the story of Prahlad, but the burning
of Holika is the one that we can most directly associate with
Holi.
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