Holi Festival in Nepal- The Color festival date and Celebration

Holi festival in Nepal is one of the bets color festival. As we all know that being a secular state there are many festivals are celebrating in Nepal. Among all these festivals one of the most exciting and enjoyable festivals is Holi. Holi: The Festival of Colour in Nepal is also knowing as faun Purnima in Nepal. Falgun means colour in the Nepali language and Holi is the festival of colour. The excitement of celebrating this festival increases as it falls during the beautiful season of Spring. Hoi always falls on the full moon day at the end of the month Falgun. On the English calendar, Holi is celebrating during the month of mid-February.

Holi festival in Nepal is celebrating by rubbing colour powder on one’s face. People celebrate this festival by spraying water. The Holi festival in Nepal is celebrating all over Nepal and India. Hoi is celebrating in the Terai region after a day which celebrates in the hilly and Himalayan region. This festival celebrates as the death of Holika, on full moon night before Ranwali Holi. On the night before Holi dung cakes and wood are burned and people offer prayer a wish of health. This festival holds great religious significance in the Hindu Veda scriptures. It says that on this day the Lord Vishnu burn the evil goddess Holika. So, Holi festival in the joy of the death of evil.

On the day of Holi, the colours run riot and people get together in public places and chase one other with colours and water. Holi is a unique festival and nowadays Holi festival in Nepal is celebrating all over the world. People mostly children love to play Festival Holi. People make their faces colourful sing and dance in this festival.

 

How Holi festival in Nepal is celebrated?

Holi is one of the main festivals that is enjoying in Nepal. Holi festival in Nepal  is enjoying with great joy and happiness over Nepal and many parts of India. As Holi festival in Nepal is all about celebrating and enjoying the colours. During the Holi festival in Nepal, people splash water on each other and exchange colour. Holi is mainly famous and is celebrated by children. Throughout this day people sing and dance smirk colour among the family members, friends, and relatives.

Now a day’s people tend to wear a white t-shirt or Happy Holi printed t-shirt. The reason behind wearing white during this festival is that colour while plying can be seen. The main colours that are used during Holi are blue, green, and red.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People also make different types of paintings on their faces. People also say that using different colours during Holi will get a chance to live a year full of happiness and joy. The clothes using while playing the holi they are keeping for a year. which is for hahat people wear during Holi festival in Nepal there is also  happiness and memory alive throughout the year. In many cities of Nepal, the blacktopped road is seen colourful by playing Holi. Pihckari is famous too used by hidden during hoi. They fill up the colourful water in the Pihckari and splash them to other peoples.

Water balloons are the most important thing during the Holi festival in Nepal. Nepal government also gives public holiday on the occasion of Holi so, the shop and office are also closed. The entire country is decorated in different colours. Another important thing about Holi is Bhang. Bhang is a special drink, which is mainly consumed during Holi and Shivaratri festival.

Nepal Holi Festival

The tradition of celebrating the Holi festival in Nepal has been for a very long time. Holi festival in Nepal  is celebrated traditionally in the major cities of Nepal. In Basantapur Durbar square of Kathmandu, hoi is celebrated by erecting a long bamboo stick which is called lingo, which is covered with pieces of many colours in a different cloth. In the Holi eve the lingo is bought down and the cloth.

It is also said that the festival of colour has been known and celebrated since the 4th century. Holi festival in Nepal is all about enjoyment and celebrations. Gujiya is a famous dish which is cooked during Holi. People smirk one another with colours, water and celebrate by eating and dancing together. The celebration of Holi begins a couple of days before the actual festivals.

Holi festival in Nepal is the combination of colours, water, music with your close once. smirking colour answers to one another are considered as an act of love. After smirking at colours and people visit the houses of their relatives and enjoy. Thus, this day is celebrated by singing, dancing, and playing with colours. Generally, Holi is celebrated in different places at different times, so the date of celebration of Holi differs from place to place. Traditionally the Pihckari was used to make out of bamboo but nowadays there are different designs of Pihckari.   Children use Pihckari to play with the water whereas adult people use water balloons.

Different Colour powder and water are mixed and splashed to one another. Holi is one of those festivals where one another forgets their fights and celebrate without with joy. It does not matter if you know the person or don’t know they will play Holi with you. Mainly foreigners enjoy this festival more.

 

Significance of Celebrating Holi

Being a colourful and joyful Holi festival in Nepal also holds various aspects of significance in our lives. Though some of the significance might not be apparent and very much related to our lives here you are going to know about the various significance of Holi in our life.  Knowing all these significances about Holi you must heartily enjoy and cherish this festival.   If you are in Nepal during this exciting festival then please don’t hold yourself back, enjoy this exciting festival and without any hesitation. Holi is all about enjoying even with the person you do not know. This is an opportunity to be close with the local people of Nepal.

People also fill water in the plastic and play Holi with it. The plastic bag local which Usually, kids start playing Holi with the balloons and Lola. Before one week of the main day, they start playing. At the time of the night on Holi, people collect woods and burn the fire and also play music and dance. People drink bhang and go crazy. People are believing burning fires on this day will keep them and their families away from the evil powers. The burning fire also indicates the death of the evil goddess Holika. This tradition is also called Holika Dahan.

 

Mythological significance

There is an important sign of Holi as it is celebrating the great story of our legend and religion. It is said that once there was an imp and mighty king in a state. his name was king Hiranya Kashyap who was known for his authoritative and controlling behavior. He wanted himself to be called a god and wanted all people to call him and worship him as a god, but he was very furious.

On the other hand, he had a son named Prahlad he was just the opposite of this father. As Prahlad started growing, he began to worship Lord Vishnu. Seeing his son worship Vishnu, Hiranya Kashyap tried many ways to make his son stop worshipping Vishnu but Prahlad didn’t agree with this father. So Hiranya Kashyap was very furious, so he asked his sister asked, Holika to help him get rid of his son. His sister Holika, who was unburnt by the fire, took Prahlad in her lap and sat on the blazing fire. According to some legends, Prahlad was saved by that fire because of his extreme devotion toward the Lord Vishnu.

On the other hand, Holika who was known as the unburnt, because of her sins she was burned by the fire.  Thus, as the tradition of burning the evil Holika, Holi is celebrating.

Holi includes God with Radha and Krishna

Another legendary story of celebrating Holi includes the great god Radha and Krishna. This story describes as a prank lord Krishna applied colour and water to Radha and another Gopi’s. Later on, this prank of Krishna became a tradition and everyone started celebrating Holi as a festival.

There is one more mythology of celebrating Holi which includes lord, Krishna. Once when Krishna was an infant child Ogress Pootana was a devil. That devil tried to kill Krishna by feeding him poisonously. Later on, Ogress Pootana was killed and as a celebration of his death, Holi is celebrated. In addition to this, another significance also says that Lord Krishna drank the poison but it didn’t affect him. But because of this poison Lord Krishna is said to have a blue body.

Another popular story behind the celebration of Holi is that the legend Ogress Dhundi used to trouble and scared off children of the Raghu kingdom. Later Ogress Dhundi was pranked and chased away from the children on the special occasion of Holi. Because of this story, children play and also prank each other on this day.

 

Cultural significance

All the legendary and most believed story behind the celebration of Holi is to reassure the people of the power of truth and brightness to lies and darkness. The story tells the ultimate win of good over bad. As mention above the story of Hiranya Kashyap and Prahlad also shows that, it doesn’t matter who you are or what power you have at the last god will always take his true devotee and believer in his shelter.  These stories will help people to believe and follow god’s conduct and the path that God has set us in. it also teaches us to be loyal and truthful to all.  Since now a day many people don’t believe in truth or god.

Holi is a festival to remind people about the importance of truth in this world.  Holi teaches people to be honest and truthful about everything. also, Holi is celebrated at the time when the fields are fully blooming and people are harvesting. the good harvest gives people hap [pines and reason to celebrate Holi. It is also Witten in the holy book of Hindus that all the festivals are celebrated to remember the power of truth and loyalty to all.

Another reason why Holi is celebrated is more believed by the people and is extremely popular in India. Holi is taken as the occasion of celebrating the sacrifice of Kamadeva who is called lord of passion. Lord Kamadeva risked his life to revive lord shiva from his mediation. After lord shiva woke up from his meditation then he killed all the devil and shave the world from many evil powers.

 

Social Significance 

In today’s generation, people don’t have time for celebration or communication with each other. For this problem, Holi is a solution that brings society together and strengthens the trust and relation of the people. for the people with busy live Holi is a chance to spend some quality time enjoy with family and friends. Because of these reasons people from other religions like Islam, Christian, Shik everybody come together and celebrate Holi. Holi is the only festival where your religion doesn’t matter to celebrate.

Holi is such a festival where you can enjoy with your enemy and friend forgetting all your grudges. This is the festival where your enemy will turn into your friend. While playing hole it does matter where you belong form or if you are rich or poor if the colour is applied to your face then everyone is the same. This festival will increase brotherhood and strengthen your social relationship. On the religious occasion of Holika Dahan people also do many social works like feeding poor people and animals.

People also organize many awareness programs regarding the importance of education, environmental protection, and the end of many social problems.

 

Biological Significance 

Celebrating festivals is significant for our lives and in many other ways other than just providing fun or excitement in our lives. we must be thankful to our ancient human generation who stated the beautiful trend of celebrating Holi at the beautiful time of the year possible. In today’s busy life holing has become an opportunity to celebrate and have fun. Holi falls during the month of Falun which is the start of the spring season in Nepal. Spring is the time when nature and the environment change their dress and become very refreshing.

The weather and climatic condition during this month are perfect for the celebration of Holi. To celebrate the change of season people, sing, dance and enjoy the color. This will also help to energize and refresh your lives.

On the other hand, while celebrating Holi nowadays because of these fake and chemical mixed colours may cause rashes in your bodies. Biologists have also stated that the colour can enter your body through your body pores and may cause some sink related damage. In addition to this, using the Holi colour on your face will result in pimples all over. If the colour that you are using is fake then if, make a stain on your face or your body for several days. So, you should be more careful while playing Holi.

Scientific reason to celebrate

There is also a scientific reason for celebrating Holi, the scientific reason is related to the tradition of Holika Dahan. Holi falls during the mutation period of the winter and summer seasons. because of this bacteria grows in your body and the environment. So, when Holika was burned the temperature rises to 145-degree F. so following this tradition while celebrating Holi the heat of the bonfire also kills bacteria in your body as well as in the environment.

Now a day’s people from different parts of Nepal, celebrate this festival by promoting good health and doing good deeds. After Holika was burned in the fire, later people collected the ash where Holika was burned and mix Chandan with the ash and put it on their forehead. They also mix Chandan with the leaves of flowers and mango tree and drink it. People believe that Consuming that paste will cure you of different diseases.

In many parts of the country, people believed that playing with colours will help to promote good health but the doctors and scientists strongly denied thy says playing with the colours will result in different diseases in your body. People clean their house and take bath and celebrate this festival.

 

Why Holi is celebrating?

Among many significances of celebrating Holi, it is also believed to keep general people safe from the diseases that might transfer while with the change of the season from winter to spring. In the traditional time while making colour for celebrating Holi people used an extract from different flowers. They used to mix those colours to generate new colours. The original colours include Turmeric, Mehndi, Kumkum, etc. these colours are also used as medicine to cure different diseases like high fever, skin diseases, and these ingredients are also very good for your skin. But nowadays you can find many synthetic colours in the market these colours are considered to be very harmful to the skin and your health.

Celebration of Holi in modern ways.

One of the reasons for celebrating Holi is the indication that spring has arrived. the colours used while celebrating Holi denotes the various variation of the spring season. in the traditional days, people used to make the colours by different natural means. They are getting to extract many colours from different flowers.  So the color use while celebrating Holi is completely natural.  But nowadays the colours are mixing with many chemicals. These artificial colours are very harmful to people and especially animals. So, because of this, the importance of the celebration of Holi has become quite less than before.

Traditionally people used to drink bhang and alcohol as a means of celebrating festivals but drinking Bhaang in Holi has become an undesirable practice. Especially adult people create different problems by cons8uming alcohol and Bhaang. Because of this problem, the spirit and reasons for celebrating the festival have been very less. Celebrating Holi in modern ways also creates unnecessary environmental pollutions. So, people should be conscious while playing Holi and celebrate this festival with non-hazardous and eco-friendly manners. You should also consider the animals using artificial colours.

 

Preparation for celebrating Holi

Holi is the festival of enjoyment with the colours. The entire country looks like a garden full of colourful flowers while celebrating this colourful festival.

Since there is a public holiday on this day shops and offices are closed so, you can celebrate Holi without any tension. People hold different parties, programs, and concerts on the occasion of this joyous festival. As preparation for Holi, people bring lots of beers and different colours. Pihckari is made in different styles of plastics. Parents during different styles of Pihckari and balloons. Women of the house start many kinds of different dishes for Holi. They make varieties of sweets, mathri, papri, and Gujiya for the family and relatives.  They also make many types of drinks.

Background of Holi, Nepal Water Festival

The origin of the Holi Festival is often traced back to the “Mahabharata”, an Indian famous epic. consistent with the legend, King Hiranyakashipu was so arrogant and didn’t allow people to worship Lord Vishnu. However, Prince Prahlada was a fanatical devotee of Vishnu and openly opposed his father. This enraged Hiranyakashipu. Since then, the king ordered his sister Holika to burn the prince on the complete moon night. From getting the blessing of God Vishnu, Prahlada was unscathed while Holika was burned into ashes. When the prince walked out of the hearth, people sprinkled him with colorful water to precise the praise of goodness and hatred of evil.

Traditions of Nepal Holi Festival

Different from Indian Holi rituals, Holi Festival in Nepal features a special ceremony for erecting a wood pole. On today, Nepali women dress in beautiful Sari with auspicious things in hand, then revolve around the pole to wish for blessings. Durbar Square and therefore the surrounding streets become a sea of waters, colors, and music. and you will have the prospect to ascertain the foremost prestigious singers working on the stage. On the eighth day, the festival involves an end with a Holi bonfire.

 Holi: The Season of Bloom

Everyone gets excited about the season of Holi.  Traditionally Holi was celebrating as spring has come. Holi is also the best festival of the Spring season of Nepal. the spring season is the best reason, especially for the farmers. Since spring starts after the end of the winter season so, the environment also gets very exciting. Forest comes with red rhododendron all over and the weather condition also remains very fine during this season.  framers celebrate Holi as their harvested plants start to grow. Nature also wears its finest and new clothes during the spring season.

 

Season of colour

People celebrate this festival with great exhilaration and excitement. At the time of the Holi, the roads are also quite empty because of the holiday so you can enjoy and walk anywhere around the street. The most important colour during this day is pink which name is gulal in Nepali. People also throw a bucket of water at each other. Thus, Holi is a colourful festival and is playing around entire Nepal with full joy and enjoyment. This festival is celebrating to enjoy the win of brightness over darkness.

 

Holi Festival Nepal 2021

In ancient times Holi used to be celebrated for a week. In some villages, Holi is still celebrating for a week but in the major cities of Nepal like Kathmandu, it celebrates for a day. You should also be a part of Holi. You can do a water balloon fight and colour smirking. It is also a chance to be close to the culture and tradition of Nepal. Adult people celebrate Holi to remember the days of their childhood. During this festival, people do not care about their appearance and cleanliness.

You can go crazy during this festival. Since2021 is the time where the pandemic becomes a little less dangerous in Nepal so you can celebrate Holi but remember to follow the safety rules set by the government. For instance, you can go to a different concert and Holi program organize Kathmandu and other public places. Basantapur Durbar Square is the main place where the Holi festival is celebrateing with great enthusiasm and excitement. although the lockdown has ended the virus is still there so to prevent this virus you should not gather more people in the name of the festival.

You must follow all the safety precautions and celebrate Holi with a lesser number of people as possible. Since the festival is the reason which makes your life more exciting so you should enjoy this beautiful festival of colour. as per the lunar calendar, Holi always falls on different dates. Holi Festival Nepal 2021 falls on March 28 and March 29.

 

Some tips you need to know for celebrating Holi festival in Nepal

• Since the synthetic colours are harmful to your face and your body so to keep your body safe from the chemical reaction, before playing Holi massage your body with coconut oil, including your hair and face. Make sure that you massage for about 10 minutes.
• To prevent the global coronavirus this year, keep your body safe and hand sanitizes. Also do not walk here and there unnecessarily and play Holi with the lesser amount of people as possible.
• Since the colours can make your nail dirty, it is better to wear darker shades of nail polish as it will be your nail clear.
• Before going out to play Holi festival in Nepal,  you will have to remove and change all your ornaments like gold and silver as they might damage with the colours permanently.
• Holi festival in Nepal is a raw festival; you should not wear any type of makeup except body moisturize because while playing Holi there will be a chemical reaction between your make-up and the colour which may lead to several skin-related problems.
• Your hair can get damage while playing Holi as the dry colours will make your hair drier.  So it is always s better to tie your hair up in any kind of pun or plait which will enable the colour to reach your scalp or hair roots.

 

Tips to consider while playing Holi

• The quality of colour is very important for playing Holi these days, s, if possible, avoid the use of synthetic colours as they can cause skin irritation and other kind problems.
• Do not go crazy while playing Holi, remember to play it slowly as the more colour you play with it will be harder to scrub or wash it off.
• As there is the saying what you sow shall you reap, you should play Holi in a proper manner. If you misbehave with the people while playing Holi then you might get into serious problems so be careful and enjoy it like a festival.

Tips for after playing Holi 

• When you finish playing Holi remember, before going to the shower once again apply coconut oil in your body where there is colour. this will help to get rid of the colour stain quickly.
• The colour may enter your ever for any reason, in that case, dip cotton buds in Luke warm water and apply it to your eyes or ears from outside. This will clean the colour from inside eyes and ears.
• At the end of the day if you have Bhaang or alcohol then, make yourself some nice lemon juice and have it. And you can also use the left-over lemons to scrub your palms and heels as this will make it softer.

 

Interesting facts about Holi festival in Nepal

• The word Holi is describing in the legendary story of Prahalad. According to this story Holi derived from the name Holika as it is the celebration of her death.
• Holi festival in Nepal is also the national festival of many parts of country . Although Holi is a Hindu festival it also considers as the secular festival as people of all the religion celebrate Holi. Despite the difference in the case, religion and nationality all people celebrate Holi by apply color to each other’s faces.
• On Holi eve a born is light in every corner of the country and people offer religious prayer to that fir asking for forgiveness and wipe out the evilness from the society.
• Earlier Bhaang juice makes during Holi to increase the spirit of the people for celebrating Holi. Thi makes forget all kinds of restriction and enmity among each other.
• Traditionally Holi celebrates in Nepal and India only but nowadays Holi has been celebrating in many nations of the world like Barcelona, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and America. Thus, Holi has been evolving and spreading among the various nation of the world.
• Holi festival in Nepal is a celebration of good and truth over evil.
• This also gives the indicator of the change of season. in earlier days people used to know that winter has ended and spring has arrived when they celebrate Holi.
• Holi festival in Nepal that is celebrated in two days in the major cities of Kathmandu. On the first day preparation of Holi. Later born fire is light to do tractional rituals and the second day of Holi is “Ranwali Holi” is the main day.