Holi, Millions of Indians celebrated Holi by dancing to drumbeats, smearing each other with green, yellow, and red paint, and exchanging sweets in homes, parks, and streets.
On March 8, Holi was celebrated. On March 7, the festivities started with Holika Dahan, which takes place on the eve of Holi and involves the burning of the Holika effigy. Holi, among the most popular Hindu festivals that also heralds the arrival of spring, honours the divine love shared by the Hindu deity Krishna and his consort Radha.
The brilliant holiday of Holi is observed during the month of Phalguna, the 12th month of the Hindu calendar. Also known as the Color Festival.
The Hindu legend of Holika and Prahlad, Hiranyakashyap, a “demon king,” had a son, Prahlad, who declined to worship him. Hiranyakashyap tried to murder Prahlad several times, but Lord Vishnu always saved him.
Holika, Hiranyakashyap’s sister, persuaded Prahlad to rest on her lap in “a blazing fire.” It was believed that because Holika had fire protection, she couldn’t be hurt, but when Prahlad kept saying Lord Vishnu’s name, he was saved again, and Holika was burned alive.
According to Holi, the celebration of Holika Dahan, or the burning of Demon Holika, is symbolic of the victory of good over evil.
Festival of Color celebrated in USA
When US immigration policies relaxed in the 1960s, a significant number of Indo-Caribbeans fled to the US, taking Phagwah with them. The holiday is now often as noticeable in the United States and Canada as it is in the Caribbean.
There are more than 225,000 Indo-Caribbeans living in New York alone, and the yearly Phagwah parade in Richmond Hill, Queens, is the biggest event of its kind in the country.
The significant Indo-Caribbean diaspora populations in upstate New York’s Schenectady and Ontario’s Brampton, outside of Toronto, are renowned for their joyous and welcoming festivities.