Happy Holi to all

Holi - Festival of Color
These are a few photos I took this morning at my apartment’s terrace. I was also coloured when I went up there.


Holi on road


Kids


So, who's next?


Rang barse (Colors showering)


Wait for me, I'm coming


Pehchaan Kaun (Guess who?)


Splash


Holi Hai


Wanna play with me?

Following are the photos I took on 14 March at the local Holika burning ceremony (read below more about Holika buring)

Holika


Holika 1


My dad, his friend and Holika


Holika 2


Holika 3


Holika 4


Holi wallpaper (ZeroIn)


Photos on wall
This is a photo of the "photos on the wall" at my house..
almost all these laminations are made by me..
the photo was taken at night so it is dark..

(ps: this photo has nothing to do with holi)

Holi SMS
Happy Holi to you and your family…
celebrate it with crackers and Diyas…
and get drunk ! Just like I am rite now…
Merry Christmas once again.

Pichkari ki dhar,
Gulal ki bauchar,
Apno ka pyar,
Yahi hai holi ka tyohar
Wishing you and your family a very happy and colourful holi

Pyar ke rang se bharo pichkari
Sneh ke rang se rang do duniya sari
Yeh rang na jaane koi jaat na koi boli
Aapko mubarak ho apno ki yeh holi

Khushiya ka ho over flow,
Masti kabhi na ho low,
Tumhari holi hoekdam number one,
Aur tum karo whole lotta fun,
Happy holi to you and ur family

Loose control.
Have lots of masti and khalbali.
Just be a rebel on this holi.
Wish you a very happy holi.

Life is difficult,
Full of trials, pain sorrow, but if u fall down,
Just stand up straight and ask,
Kisne dhakka maraa bey? Happy Holi.

What is Holi?
Holi or Phagwah (Bhojpuri) is an annual Hindu spring festival. It takes place over two days around late March or early April. As per the Hindu calendar, it falls on the last day on the month of Phalgun, which is a Purnima (or Pooranmashi, Full Moon), and on the first day of Chaitra. It is a celebration also of the Hindu New Year, as Chaitra is the first month of the Hindu Year. It is also called the festival of color.

On the first day, a bonfire is lit at night to signify burning Holika. On the second day, known as Dhulandi, people go around until afternoon throwing colors at each other. A special drink called 'thandai' or bhang (Cannabis sativa) is also consumed sometimes, which actually contains small amounts of marijuana. People invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations later in evenings. Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colors.

This year, the burning of Holika was on March 14, and then Dhulandi on March 15.

Mythological significance of Holi
In Hindu mythology, Hiranyakashipu was the king of demons, and he had been granted a boon by Brahma, which made it almost impossible for him to be killed. The boon was due to his long penance, after which he had demanded that he not be killed "during day or night; inside the home or outside; not on earth or on sky; neither by a man nor an animal; neither by astra nor by shastra". Consequently, he grew arrogant, and attacked the Heavens and the Earth. He demanded that people stop worshipping gods and start praying to him. But his own son, Prahlad, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. In spite of several threats from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlad continued offering prayers to Lord Vishnu. He was poisoned but the poison turned to nectar in his mouth. He was ordered to be trampled by elephants yet remained unharmed. He was put in a room with hungry, poisonous snakes and survived.

All of Hiranyakashipu's attempts at killing him failed. Ultimately he ordered young Prahlad to sit on a pyre on the lap of his sister Holika, who could not die by fire by virtue of a shawl which would prevent fire affecting the person wearing it. Prahlad readily accepted his father's orders, and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in amazement as the shawl flew from Holika, who, then was burnt to death, while Prahlad survived without a scar to show for it, after the shawl moved on to cover him.

The burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi. It is also said that later Lord Vishnu came in the form of a Narasimha (who is half-man and half-lion) and killed Hiranyakashipu at dusk (which was neither day nor night), on the steps of the porch of his house (which was neither inside the house nor outside) by restraining him on his lap (which is neither in the sky nor on the earth) and mauling him with his claws (which are neither astra nor shastra).

A painting from the collection of Smithsonian Institute depicting Krishna-Radha and Gopis celebrating HoliIn Vrindavan and Mathura, where lord Krishna grew up, the festival is celebrated for 16 days (until Rangpanchmi in commemoration of the divine love of Radha for Krishna). Lord Krishna is believed to have popularized the festival by playing pranks on the gopis here. Krishna is believed to be complained about his dark color and Radha's fair color to his mother and so decided to apply color to her face. The celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love.

There is another story about the origin of holi. The Kamadeva is God of love. Kama's body was destroyed when he shot his weapon at Shiva in order to disrupt his penance and help Parvati to marry Shiva. Shiva then opened his third eye, the gaze of which was so powerful that Kama's body was reduced to ashes. For the sake of Kama's wife Rati (passion), Shiva restored him, but only as a mental image, representing the true emotional and mental state of love rather than physical lust. The Holi bonfire is believed to be celebrated in commeration of this event.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/holi