Holi at Maa Vaishno Shakti Dham:
The festival of Holi is also known as the festival of color is celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm at Maa Vaishno Shakti Dham Mandir, Surat.
So, the Opening festival in the Hindu calendar is marked by the festival of Holi. According to the Hindu calendar, it falls on the full moon day in the month of Phalgun. People enjoy themselves playing with several colors and celebrate the whole day with much pomp and gaiety.
Facts about Holi:
- The name Holi comes from “Holika”, the sister of demon King “Hiranyakashyap”.
- It is celebrated after the full moon in the month of ‘Phalguna’ which generally falls between February and March.
- Festival of Holi is celebrated for at least 16 days in the Brag region of India where Krishna was born.
- First day is known as Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi and the second as Rangwali Holi, Dhuleti, Dhulandi or Dhulivandan.
- Festival of Holi is predominantly a festival of fun. People spend a lot of their time during the festival days engaging in fun activities.
- Kids start using water balloon and water pistols a week or 10 days before Holi. They hide and target the by-passers with balloons filled with colored water and water pistols.
- A special delight that people make at their home is Gujiya. It is a stuffed sweet delicacy where the stuffing consists of dry fruits and other sweet items. It is very popular and people enjoy the delight to their full extent.
- It is a national festival in India and people from all the states celebrate it.
- This festival starts on the night before Holi when people gather and start a bonfire. The bonfire is lit up between 8 pm and midnight. People gather around the fire to watch it while eating their favorite food items, and talk with friends.
- The second day of the festival of Holi which is also referred as “Rangwali Holi” is the main day when people play with wet and dry colors. People chase each other in an attempt to color one another.