Holi
Holi is an important Hindu spring festival and, in western India where it is connected with the wheat harvest, a harvest festival. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Phalguna (February-March) with a great deal of boisterousness and colour. The legend that accounts for the festival describes how a young prince, Prahlada, defied his father by worshipping the god Vishnu. As a result, his father allowed him to be carried into the fire by the female demon, Holika, the embodiment of evil, who claimed she herself was fireproof. Through Vishnu's intervention, Holika burned to death but Prahlada was unharmed. On the first day of this two-day festival, bonfires are lit and effigies of Holika placed in the centre to represent the triumph of virtue and religion over evil. On the second day of the festival people throw coloured waters and powders on each other and on this day all the usual restrictions of colour, caste, creed, age, and sex are cast aside in the general fun and merrymaking. Holi is also a time of good will, when people pay or forgive debts, make up quarrels, and wish each other good luck.
