My favorite festival 🎉🎉🎊🎊

This contest made me feel nostalgic, a couple of years back, I took part in the same contest and stood first as far as I remember. Just by reading the contest title, I instantly decided to take part in it. I am from a country of Festivals and diversification. India is home to many religions, cultures, traditions, and languages. Therefore India celebrates festivals in every season, region, and religion. Since India has a humongous Hindu population, it is natural that most of its festivals are Hindu festivals. It's tricky for me to pick out one favorite festival. However since the contest's demand is to pick most favorite festival. I would pick HOLI as my favorite festival.

Last Holi celebration

What exactly does Holi signify?!!

Holi is a vibrant festival mainly celebrated in India and Nepal. It signifies the victory of good over evil. We can see the reference from a mythological story of Prahalad and Holika. Prahalad happened to be a hardcore devotee of lord Vishnu, His father Hiranyakashyap who was a demon in Hindu mythology who was the king of the asuras. Hiranyakashyap was booned by Brahma that-

• He could not be killed by either humans or animals.

• He could not be killed from inside or outside.

• He could not be killed during the day or at night.

• He could not be killed by any weapon.

He wanted everyone to worship him as supreme power since he was invincible due to the boon he received from Brahma Ji. In the Holi festival, Vishnu appeared in his Narasimha avatar, a half-man, half-lion form, to kill Hiranyakaship. Narasimha tore Hiranyakaship apart with his bare hands, freeing Prahlada who was a devotee of lord Vishnu and worshiped him only as a divine power instead of his father. The fact that his own son didn't obey and worshiped him as per his wish, he got paranoid and decided to kill his own son Prahalad with the help of his sister Holika.

Hues of Holiii

When is it celebrated?

Holi is celebrated on the last full moon of the lunar month of Phalguna, which is usually in March. The date changes each year, but it's always between the end of February and the middle of March.

Holi celebration in our society

How is it celebrated?

It is celebrated with color and gulal throwing on eachother and a lot many dishes are prepared on this day and shared with eachother. Popular sweets eaten during Holi include gujiya, jalebi, and malpua. Apart from sweets, street foods like chaat and kachori are made and eaten this day.

Holi hai!!

How did I celebrate my last Holi?

Last year, Holi (the festival of colors) fell on 25th March. We made Gujhiya and namak pare at home.

Ingredients used in Gujhiya:

• Khoya
• Naariyal gola
• Semolina/ suji
• Flour
• Dry fruits

We made organic colors at home so that it doesn't harm anyone's skin to keep safety intact. After playing with color and gulal, we visited our neighbors in Evening and took blessings from elders. It was so much fun with family and friends.

Last year Holi celebration 🥳