Holi ( IPA: ['hoːli:, hoːɭiː]) is a major Hindu festival^[7][8], celebrated as the festival of Colours, Love and Spring.^{[1][9][10][11]} It celebrates as the eternal and divine love compassion between the deities Radha and Krishna.^[12][13] Additionally, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil,^[14][15] as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu.^[16][17] Holi originated in ancient Indian subcontinent and is predominantly celebrated in the modern Indian subcontinent, but has also spread to other regions of Asia and parts of the Western world.^[10][18][19]

Holi also celebrates the arrival of spring in India and Nepal, the end of winter, and the blossoming of love.^[20][21] It is also an invocation for a good spring harvest season.^[20][21] It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the Purnima (full moon day) falling on the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna, which falls around the middle of March in the Gregorian calendar.

Holi (Hindi: होली, Gujarati: હોળી, Kannada: ಹೋಳಿ, Marathi: होळी, Nepali: होली, Punjabi: ਹੋਲੀ, Telugu: హోళి, Odia: ହୋଲି) is also known as Dol Jatra ("swing festival") and Bôshonto Utshôb (Bengali: বসন্ত উৎসব) ("spring festival") in Bengal (West Bengal and Bangladesh), Phakua (Assamese: ফাকুৱা) and Dôl Jātrā (Assamese: দ’ল যাত্ৰা) in Assam, Phāgu Pūrṇimā (Nepali: फागु पूर्णिमा) in the hilly region of Nepal, Dola jātra (Odia: ଦୋଳଯାତ୍ରା) in Odisha, Fagua or Phagua (Bhojpuri: 𑂤𑂏𑂳𑂄) in eastern Uttar Pradesh, western Bihar, and northwestern Jharkhand, Phagwah or Phagwa (Caribbean Hindustani: पगवा) in the Caribbean (namely Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica), and Phagua (Fiji Hindi: फगुआ) in Fiji.

The main day of the celebration is known as "Holi", "Rangwali Holi", "Dola Purnima", "Dhuleti", "Dhulandi",^[22] "Ukuli", "Manjal Kuli",^[23] "Yaosang", "Shigmo",^[24] "Phagwah",^[25] or "Jajiri".^[26]

Holi is a sacred ancient tradition of Hindus. It is a cultural celebration that gives Hindus and non-Hindus alike an opportunity to have fun and play with other people by throwing coloured water and powder at each other. It is also observed broadly on the Indian subcontinent. Holi is celebrated at the end of winter, on the last full moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month, marking the spring, making the date vary with the lunar cycle.^{[note 1]} The date falls typically in March, but sometimes in late February of the Gregorian calendar.^[29][30]

The festival has many purposes; most prominently, it celebrates the beginning of spring. In 17th century literature, it was identified as a festival that celebrated agriculture, commemorated good spring harvests, and the fertile land.^[20] Hindus believe it is a time to begin enjoying spring's abundant colours and say farewell to winter. To many Hindus, Holi festivities mark an occasion to reset and renew ruptured relationships, end conflicts, and rid themselves of accumulated emotional impurities from the past.^[21][31]

It also has a religious purpose, symbolically signified by the legend of Holika. The night before Holi, bonfires are lit in a ceremony known as Holika Dahan (burning of Holika), or Little Holi. People gather near the fires, sing, and dance. The next day, Holi, also known as Dhuli in Sanskrit, or Dhulheti, Dhulandi, or Dhulendi, is celebrated.^[32]

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The Holi festival is an ancient Hindu festival with its own cultural rituals, which emerged before the Gupta period.^[10] The festival of colours finds mentioned in numerous scriptures, such as in works like Jaimini's Purva Mimamsa Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras, with even more detailed descriptions in ancient texts like the Narada Purana and Bhavishya Purana. The festival of "holikotsav" was also mentioned in the 7th-century work, Ratnavali, by King Harsha.^[33] It is mentioned in the Puranas, Dasakumara Charita by Daṇḍin, and by the poet Kālidāsa during the 4th-century reign of Chandragupta II.^[10]

The celebration of Holi is also mentioned in the 7th-century Sanskrit drama Ratnavali.^[34] The festival of Holi caught the fascination of European traders and British colonial staff by the 17th century. Various old editions of the Oxford English Dictionary mention it, but with varying, phonetically derived spellings: Houly (1687), Hooly (1698), Huli (1789), Hohlee (1809), Hoolee (1825), and Holi in editions published after 1910.^[20]

In the Braj region of India, where the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna grew up, the festival is celebrated until Rang Panchmi in commemoration of their divine love for each other. The festivities officially usher in spring, with Holi celebrated as a festival of love.^[12][35] Garga Samhita, a puranic work by Sage Garga was the first work of literature to mention the romantic description of Radha and Krishna playing Holi.^[36]

There is also a symbolic legend behind the festival. In his youth, Krishna despairs whether the fair-skinned Radha will like him because of his dark skin colour. His mother Yashoda, tires of his desperation and asks him to approach Radha and ask her to colour his face in any colour she wishes. This Radha does, and Radha and Krishna become a couple. Ever since, the playful colouring of Radha and Krishna's faces has been commemorated as Holi.^[13][37]

Beyond India, these legends help to explain the significance of Holi (Phagwah), which is common in some Caribbean communities of Indian origin such as Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica.^[38][39] It is also celebrated with great fervour in Mauritius, Fiji, and South Africa.^[40]

There is a symbolic legend found in the 7th chapter of the Bhagavata Purana^[16][17] explaining why Holi is celebrated as a festival of triumph of good over evil in the honour of Hindu god Vishnu and his devotee Prahlada. King Hiranyakashipu, the father of Prahlada, was the king of demonic Asuras and had earned a boon that gave him five special powers: he could be killed by neither a human being nor an animal, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither at day nor at night, neither by astra (projectile weapons) nor by any shastra (handheld weapons), and neither on land nor in water or air. Hiranyakashipu grew arrogant, thought he was God, and demanded that everyone worship only him.^[5] Hiranyakashipu's own son, Prahlada, however, remained devoted to Vishnu.^[41] This infuriated Hiranyakashipu. He subjected Prahlada to cruel punishments, none of which affected the boy or his resolve to do what he thought was right. Finally, Holika, Prahlada's evil aunt, tricked him into sitting on a pyre with her.^[5] Holika was wearing a cloak that made her immune to injury from fire, while Prahlada was not. As the fire spread, the cloak flew from Holika and encased Prahlada,^[41] who survived while Holika burned. Vishnu, the god who appears as an avatar to restore Dharma in Hindu beliefs, took the form of Narasimha – half human and half lion (which is neither a human nor an animal), at dusk (when it was neither day nor night), took Hiranyakashyapu at a doorstep (which was neither indoors nor outdoors), placed him on his lap (which was neither land, water nor air), and then eviscerated and killed the king with his lion claws (which were neither a handheld weapon nor a launched weapon).^[42]

The Holika bonfire and Holi signifies the celebration of the symbolic victory of good over evil, of Prahlada over Hiranyakashipu, and of the fire that burned Holika.^[21]

Among other Hindu traditions such as Shaivism and Shaktism, the legendary significance of Holi is linked to Shiva in yoga and deep meditation. Goddess Parvati wanting to bring Shiva back into the world, seeks help from the Hindu god of love called Kamadeva on Vasant Panchami. The love god shoots arrows at Shiva, the yogi opens his third eye and burns Kama to ashes. This upsets both Kama's wife Rati (Kamadevi) and his own wife Parvati. Rati performs her own meditative asceticism for forty days, upon which Shiva understands, forgives out of compassion and restores the god of love. This return of the god of love, is celebrated on the 40th day after the Vasant Panchami festival as Holi.^[43][44] The Kama legend and its significance to Holi has many variant forms, particularly in South India.^[45]

The Holi festival has a cultural significance among various Hindu traditions of the Indian subcontinent. It is the festive day to end and rid oneself of past errors, to end conflicts by meeting others, a day to forget and forgive. People pay or forgive debts, as well as deal anew with those in their lives. Holi also marks the start of spring, an occasion for people to enjoy the changing seasons and make new friends.^[21][31]

Holi is of particular significance in the Braj region, which includes locations traditionally associated with Radha Krishna: Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandgaon, Barsana, and Gokula. These places are popular tourist attractions during Holi.^[35]

Outside India, Holi is observed by Hindus in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan as well as in countries with large diaspora populations from India around the world. The Holi rituals and customs can vary with local adaptations.

Sikhs have traditionally celebrated the festival, at least through the 19th century,^[46] with its historic texts referring to it as Hola.^[47] Guru Gobind Singh – the last human guru of the Sikhs – modified Holi with a three-day Hola Mohalla extension festival of martial arts. The extension started the day after the Holi festival in Anandpur Sahib, where Sikh soldiers would train in mock battles, compete in horsemanship, athletics, archery and military exercises.^[48][49][50]

Holi was observed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his Sikh Empire that extended across what are now northern parts of India and Pakistan. According to a report by Tribune India, Sikh court records state that 300 mounds of colours were used in 1837 by Ranjit Singh and his officials in Lahore. Ranjit Singh would celebrate Holi with others in the Bilawal gardens, where decorative tents were set up. In 1837, Sir Henry Fane who was the commander-in-chief of the British Indian army joined the Holi celebrations organised by Ranjit Singh. A mural in the Lahore Fort was sponsored by Ranjit Singh and it showed the Hindu god Krishna playing Holi with gopis. After the death of Ranjit Singh, his Sikh sons and others continued to play Holi every year with colours and lavish festivities. The colonial British officials joined these celebrations.^[51]

The festival has also traditionally been observed by Jains^[2] and Newars (Nepal).^[3]

In Mughal India, Holi was at times suppressed, and at others celebrated with such exuberance that Hindu citizens of all castes could throw colour on the Muslim Mughal Emperor.^[52]

According to Sharma (2017), "there are several paintings of Mughal emperors celebrating Holi".^[53] Grand celebrations of Holi were held at the Lal Qila, where the festival was also known as Eid-e-gulaabi or Aab-e-Pashi. Mehfils were held throughout the walled city of Delhi with aristocrats and traders alike participating.

This changed during the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb. He banned the public celebration of Holi using a Farman issue in November 1665.^[54]

The celebration was later restarted again after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb. Bahadur Shah Zafar himself wrote a song for the festival, while poets such as Amir Khusrau, Ibrahim Raskhan, Nazeer Akbarabadi and Mehjoor Lakhnavi relished it in their writings.^[52]

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The night before Holi is called Holika Dahan or "Chhoti Holi" whereby people gather around a lit bonfire, symbolising the victory of good over evil as well as the removal of the old and arrival of the new. Various rituals are performed around the fire such as singing and dancing.^[21] This ritual is derived from the story of Holika, who attempted to kill Prahlada, the son of Hiranyakashipu, through the flames of a bonfire. Although Holika was endowed with a boon to remain immune to fire, she was burned to ashes, while Prahlada remained unharmed.^[55][56]

The next morning is celebrated as Rangwali Holi (Dhuleti) where people smear and drench each other with colours. Water guns and water-filled balloons are often used to play and colour each other, with anyone and any place being considered fair game to colour. Groups often carry drums and other musical instruments going from place to place, singing and dancing. Throughout the day, people visit family, and friends and foes come together to chat, enjoy food and drinks, and partake in Holi delicacies.^[41][57][58] Holi is also a festival of forgiveness and new starts, which ritually aims to generate harmony in society.^[58] Many cities in Uttar Pradesh also organise Kavi sammelan in the evening.

Groups sing and dance, some playing drums and dholak. After each stop of fun and play with colours, people offer gujiya, mathri, malpuas and other traditional delicacies.^[59] Cold drinks, including drinks made with marijuana, are also part of the Holi festivity.^[60]

Holi is celebrated by the minority Hindu population in Pakistan. Community events by Hindus have been reported by Pakistani media in various cities such as Karachi,^[61] Hazara,^[62] Rawalpindi, Sindh, Hyderabad, Multan and Lahore.^[63] The Hindu tribes of Cholistan play the game called Khido in the days leading up to the Holi. The game Khido is considered sacred by them as it is believed that Parhlad used to play this game during his childhood.^[64]

However, some cases have been reported where Hindus have been discriminated against and attacked while celebrating Holi in educational institutions.^[65][66]

Holi was not a public holiday in Pakistan from 1947 to 2016. Holi along with Diwali for Hindus, and Easter for Christians, was adopted as public holiday resolution by Pakistan's parliament in 2016, giving the local governments and public institutions the right to declare Holi as a holiday and grant leave for its minority communities, for the first time.^[67] This decision has been controversial, with some Pakistanis welcoming the decision, while others criticising it, with the concern that declaring Holi a public holiday advertises a Hindu festival to Pakistani children.^[68]

The spring season, during which the weather changes, is believed to cause viral fever and cold. The playful throwing of natural coloured powders, called gulal has a medicinal significance: the colours are traditionally made of palash, neem, kumkum, haldi, bilva, and other medicinal herbs suggested by Āyurvedic doctors.

Many colours are obtained by mixing primary colours. Artisans produce and sell many of the colours from natural sources in dry powder form, in weeks and months preceding Holi. Some of the traditional natural plant-based sources of colours are:^[20][69][70]

The flowers of palash or tesu tree, also called the flame of the forest, are typical source of bright red and deep orange colours. Powdered fragrant red sandalwood, dried hibiscus flowers, madder tree, radish, and pomegranate are alternate sources and shades of red. Mixing lime with turmeric powder creates an alternate source of orange powder, as does boiling saffron (kesar) in water.

Mehendi and dried leaves of gulmohur tree offer a source of green colour. In some areas, the leaves of spring crops and herbs have been used as a source of green pigment.

Haldi (turmeric) powder is the typical source of yellow colour. Sometimes this is mixed with chickpea (gram) or other flour to get the right shade. Bael fruit, amaltas, species of chrysanthemums, and species of marigold are alternate sources of yellow.

Indigo plant, Indian berries, species of grapes, blue hibiscus, and jacaranda flowers are traditional sources of blue colour for Holi.

Beetroot is the traditional source of magenta and purple colour. Often these are directly boiled in water to prepare coloured water.

Dried tea leaves offer a source of brown coloured water. Certain clays are alternate source of brown.

Species of grapes, fruits of amla (gooseberry) and vegetable carbon (charcoal) offer grey to black colours.

Holi is celebrated as a social event in parts of the United States.^[71] For example, at Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, NYC Holi Hai in Manhattan, New York,^[72] and Festival of Colors: Holi NYC in New York City, New York.^{[71][73][4][74]}

A number of Holi-inspired social events have also surfaced, particularly in Europe and the United States, often organised by companies as for-profit or charity events with paid admission, and with varying scheduling that does not coincide with the actual Holi festival. These have included Holi-inspired music festivals such as the Festival Of Colours Tour and Holi One^[75] (which feature timed throws of Holi powder), and 5K run franchises such as The Color Run, Holi Run and Color Me Rad,^[76] in which participants are doused with the powder at per-kilometre checkpoints.^[77][18] The BiH Color Festival is a Holi-inspired electronic music festival held annually in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[78][79] In recent years, schools across Australia have also adopted Holi inspired fund raising activities which leverage fundraising platforms such as Australian Fundraising, School Fun Run, Colour Frenzy and Go Raise It Australia to conduct such events. New Zealand schools have also followed the trend with holi powder Colour Run fundraisers run by local company Go Raise It NZ. Schools across the UK have also caught onto the trend and are now also starting to use companies like Go Raise It UK to run their online sponsored colour runs as school fundraisers.

A 2007 study found that malachite green, a synthetic bluish-green dye used in some colours during Holi festival, was responsible for severe eye irritation in Delhi, if eyes were not washed upon exposure. Though the study found that the pigment did not penetrate through the cornea, malachite green is of concern and needs further study.^[80]

Another 2009 study reports that some colours produced and sold in India contain metal-based industrial dyes, causing an increase in skin problems to some people in the days following Holi. These colours are produced in India, particularly by small informal businesses, without any quality checks and are sold freely in the market. The colours are sold without labelling, and the consumer lacks information about the source of the colours, their contents, and possible toxic effects. In recent years, several non-governmental organisations have started campaigning for safe practices related to the use of colours. Some are producing and marketing ranges of safer colours derived from natural sources such as vegetables and flowers.^[81]

These reports have galvanised a number of groups into promoting more natural celebrations of Holi. Development Alternatives, Delhi's CLEAN India campaign,^[82] Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group, Pune,^[83] Society for Child Development through its Avacayam Cooperative Campaign^[84] have launched campaigns to help children learn to make their own colours for Holi from safer, natural ingredients. Meanwhile, some commercial companies such as the National Botanical Research Institute have begun to market "herbal" dyes, though these are substantially more expensive than the dangerous alternatives. However, it may be noted that many parts of rural India have always resorted to natural colours (and other parts of festivities more than colours) due to availability.

In urban areas, some people wear nose masks and sunglasses to avoid inhaling pigments and to prevent chemical exposure to eyes.^[85]

The use of heavy metal-based pigments during Holi is also reported to cause temporary wastewater pollution, with the water systems recovering to pre-festival levels within 5 days.^[86]

• Diwali
• Lathmar Holi
• Songkran (Thailand) – Traditional Thai New Year's holiday, famous for ritualised public water fights
• Midsummer – Holiday held close to the summer solstice
• Nowruz – New Years Day of the Persian calendar