Hurray, the spring's back! "H-O-L-I H-A-I". Now get set to paint each other in the colours of joy, for the festival of colours - Holi is just round the corner. It's an occasion that brings in joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colours to make a festive graffiti on every heart. With winter neatly tucked up in the attic, it's time to come out of our cocoons and enjoy this spring festival. Every year Holi is celebrated on the day after the full moon in March. It is also time for spring harvest. The new crop refills the stores in every household and perhaps such abundance accounts for the riotous merriment during Holi. This also explains the other names of this celebration - 'Vasant Mahotsava. ' 

The enraged king told his sister Hollika, who was immune to fire, to destroy Prahlad in a fire. She carried Prahlad into a fire, but by the divine intervention of God, she was consumed by the flames while Prahlad escaped unscathed. So on the eve of Holi people can be seen singing around huge bonfires symbolically reliving the legend even today. Agni, the god of Fire, is also paid obeisance with gram and stalks from the harvest offered into the fire. 

This lively festival is also associated with the immortal love of Krishna and Radha, and hence, Holi is spread over 16 days in Vrindavan as well as Mathura - the two cities with which Lord Krishna was associated.

Apart from the usual fun with coloured powder and water, Holi is marked by vibrant processions, which are accompanied by folk songs, dances and a general sense of abandoned vitality. Holi is solemnized amidst rituals and sacrifices. Bonfires are lit and mothers often carry their babies five times in a clockwise direction around the fire, so that Agni, the god of fire, will bless the babies with a successful life.

Holi is one of the oldest among the Hindu festivals. Various references are found in the ancient scriptures or are seen as paintings and sculptures on walls of old temples. A 16th century panel sculpted in a temple at Hampi, capital of Vijayanagar, shows a joyous scene depicting Holi where a prince and princess are standing amidst maids who are waiting with syringes to drench the royal couple in coloured water. A Mewar painting of 17th century shows the Maharana with his courtiers. While the ruler is bestowing gifts on some people, a merry dance is on, and in the center is a tank filled with coloured water. A Bundi miniature shows a king seated on a tusker, & from a balcony above some young women are showering Gulal on him. Today Holi is an excuse for people to shed inhibitions and caste differences for a day of spring fever and big Fun.Teenagers spend the day flirting and misbehaving in the streets, adults extend the hand of peace, and everyone chases everyone else around, throwing brightly coloured powder (Gulal) and water over each other. India, is land of ancient origins, intricate cultures interwoven over period of time. Holi reflects the diversity and the mythology of India even today.