Light. New life. Colour. Laughter. Sunshine.

Once again, it's time to celebrate the arrival of Spring with the festival of Holi!


Last year I told you about the fesival itself, but this year I'm going to tell you a story connected to Holi.

Once upon a time, there lived a demon king named Hiranyakashipu.
Through severe penance and prayer for many years he was granted a boon from Lord Brahma in 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, and neither by astra nor by shastra".

Consequently, he grew arrogant, and attacked the Heavens and the Earth demanding that people stop worshipping Gods and start praying to him.

Despite this, Hiranyakashipu's 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 to kill his son failed.
Finally, he ordered young Prahlad to sit on a pyre on the lap of his sister, the evil demon Holika, who could not die by fire by virtue of a blessed 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 unharmed, after the shawl moved to cover him.

The burning of Holika is celebrated during Holi, when huge bonfires are lit.

Later Lord Vishnu himself came to earth in the form of Narasingadev to slay the evil Hiranyakashipu.

Narasingadev 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).