by Felix Helmholdt
March 19th, the colorful Holi Festival will boost Dominical’s natural beauty. On the evening of the event Patron´s is having a Holika bonfire at the beach.
The Holi-Festival of Colors is a festival with its origin in India, where it traditionally marks the beginning of spring, and when the victory of good over evil is celebrated.
The most popular legend is about Prahalad and Holika (Holi-Festival).
It is about king Hiranyakashipu and his sister Holika who tried to kill the king´s son Prahalad by burning him in a blazing fire. Holika had a boon that she thought herself invulnerable. She sat down in the middle of a fire with Prahalad on her lap.
Because of her evil intensions the boon didn’t work and she burned in the fire while Prahalad was protected by the God Vishnu and survived. Vishnu also killed Hiranyakashipu and so Prahalad took his place as a king, and the victory of good over evil was gained.
The traditional celebrations symbolize the burning of Holika by lighting bonfires and burning effigies of Holika.
An important part is a ritual of spraying colors, or throwing dry colored powders or balloons filled with colored water in the air. The colors not only represent the falling ashes of the burned Holika but also bury differences between castes, social statuses, age, and gender. This ritual gave the inspiration for modern celebrations which spread with huge success all over Europe and the USA.
Patron’s will provide sticks on which people can write the things in their past that they want to burn and let go of. Everyone gets to burn his or her demons, pain, and guilt and celebrate a “Holi” life.
