What is the Holi Celebration all About?

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During an episode of Amazing Race, the contestants were visiting India during the HOLI celebrations. It was such a wonderful sight, all the bright and beautiful colours. I have always wanted to know the history behind this spectacular celebration. What is the history behind it and why is it so special?

Tip 1 - HOLI's history is an amazing story of good versus evil.

Published: 10 years, 8 month(s) ago | Submitted by Siya S | permalink

Holi gets us close to our religion and our mythology as it is essentially the celebration of various legends associated with the festival.
Foremost is the legend of Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap. The legend says there once lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakshyap who considered himself a god and wanted everybody to worship him. To his great ire, his son, Prahlad began to worship, Lord Vishnu. To get rid of his son, Hiranyakshyap asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap, as she had a boon to enter fire unscathed. Legend has it that Prahlad was saved for his extreme devotion for the lord while Holika paid a price for her sinister desire. The tradition of burning Holika or the 'Holika dahan' comes mainly from this legend.

For further reading: http://www.holifestival.org/significance-of-holi.html ^[1]