Holi

Some throw coins into the bonfire. This festival is celebrated on the full-moon day of Phalgun. Here are some stories about Holi. .

Long, long ago, there was a demoness called Holika:she was very wicked. God Krishna killed her. As she was dying,she asked Krishna, " Will you celebrate this day as a festival?"God is kind even to the wicked when they repent.

So Krishna granted her request. This is the day we celebrate as the Holi festival.

On that day, a chunk of a tree is planted before the house.

Grass and fuel are heaped round and upon it. At night-fall, the head of the family sets fire to it. When it goes up in flames, people make a strange noise with their tongues and offer worship.

In Bengal, they place the child-god Krishna in a cradle infront of the bonfire and worship him.

Here is another story about Holi.

Once God Siva was doing tapas.

Kama or the Love—god annoyed him. Becoming angry, God Siva burnt him to ashes with a single look of his Eyes.They say the Holi bonfire is the burning of Kama.

In Delhi and other places people enact the story of Rama on a stage.

They make a figure of the demon Ravana and set fire to it.

Indradyumna, a soldier-saint of old, was the first to Celebrate.Holi in Brindavan, near Mathura.