2020 Holi

Holi Festival Celebrations 2020

Holi is a Hindu festival which is celebrated by Hindus all over the world with utmost passion and dedication. Holi is known as the second biggest festival in the Hindu Calendar after Diwali. Holi is popularly the festival of colors wherein everyone plays with colors to mark the celebration. It is the most awaited time of the year which brings people closer and marks the period of harvest. So, let’s find out Holi date 2020 , the interesting story behind celebrating Holi and how 2020 Holi will be celebrated all over the World in different styles. 

When is Holi 2020? 

Holi 2020 : The date of holi in 2020 is 17-18 March, Sunday and Monday of the week respectively. As per hindu panchang holi celebrated on the day of phalgun purnima.

Holi festival 2020 celebration dates:

Holika Dahan 2022 date is 17 March,2022 and Dhulandi celebration date is 18 March, 2022.

About holi: Holi, festival of colors is praised for two days. The main day is known as Jalane Wali Holi - the day when Holi campfire is performed. This day is otherwise called Chhoti Holi and Holika Dahan. Holika Dahan alludes to Kama Dahanam in South India. 

The second day is known as Rangwali Holi - the day when individuals play with hued powder and hued water. Rangwali Holi, which is a primary Holiday is otherwise called Dhulandi. Alternate less well-known elocutions of Dhulandi are Dhuleti, Dhuli Padvo.

Here is Happy Holi Wishes You Can Send To Your Loved Ones.

On the first day campfires are lit after dusk at accurate Holika Dahan Muhurat.On this day, they worship campfire and devour the grains as offerings to God. Following day, Dhulandi is celebrated when people enjoy Holi delicacies and play with wet and dry colours. 

Story Behind Festival Of Holi

There are various ceremonies that are related to the celebration of the Holi festival. A day prior to Holi, a splendid campfire is lit. It is known as Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi. It symbolizes the triumph of good over bad. There is an exceptionally intriguing Holi story or rightly can say Holika story, related to this.

Holika Dahan Story: According to Hindu Mythology, there was a wicked demon king Hiranyakashyap who forbade the people of his kingdom from worshipping the Lord Vishnu. He wanted to be immortal and to fulfill his desire, he worshipped Lord Brahma and did a hard penance. As a fruit of his strong prayers, Lord Brahma had given him a boon which stated that neither inside the door nor outside the door, neither human nor an animal, neither during the day nor in the night, neither on the land nor in the water or air, would be able to kill demon king by any means of weapons. The boon made Hiranyakashyap powerful and as a result he became more wicked and treacherous. However, he had no power over his own son Prahlad.

Prahlad was a righteous child and the biggest devotee of Lord Vishnu.To stop him, he made various attempts but at last, the demon king plotted to slaughter him with the help of his sister Holika, a woman with a boon to not get burnt in fire. But when Holika tried to kill Prahlad by taking him into the pyre of fire, she devoured while Prahlad lived. Later, to save him from his wicked father, Lord Vishnu took the form of Narsimha and killed Hiranyakashyap. He killed the demon king with his sharp nails while laying him in his lap at the doorstep, thus saving his righteous devotee and the effect of boon. 

To celebrate this victory of good over evil, every individual of the Hindu community partakes to light the fire. They keep a pot of new grain seeds under the fire so that it may get devoured. 

Moreover, quite often the predictions are made for the future harvest based on the flames of fire. The fiery remains of this fire are viewed as exceptionally promising and auspicious. Either the ashes or the seething sections of wood are reclaimed home.

People light their flames at home with coals and keep the cinders which they accept will ensure them against illnesses.

How is Holi celebrated?

After Holika Dahan, the next day on Dhulandi, the air is loaded with gulal and abeer of different hues. The sky looks full of holi colours and there are only sounds of “Holi Hai” everywhere. Youths dance on the beats of drums or Dhols and apply colors of Holi on each other and on the feet of the senior citizens of the family.

Pichkaris of different shapes and sizes swarmed the business sectors. Seeing everyone pouring shading on each other and entire heartedly taking an interest in the merriment makes an ideal picture of bliss.

People are more interested in playing Holi with various dry colors, popularly known as Gulal. However, numerous individuals feel that Holi festivities are deficient without wet colors.

Wet color is applied on the face and is made on the spot by blending little measure of water with dry hued powder. More excited and passionate Holi society blend dry hued powder in full pail of water to soak the whole body in wet colors.

On the banks of the River Ganges, individuals sit splashed in colors and get ready thandai with the cannabis (bhang) and this has an exceptionally inebriating impact. The fun is definitely appreciating and exciting.

Gujiya, mathri, laddoos are devoured by the bounty in the event of Holi. Bhang or Cannabis is additionally used to amplify the Holi Masti. At some parts, big holi events, pandals or holi parties are organized by keeping holi special themes. 

Millenials use this time to send Holi messages such as Happy Holika Dahan, Happy Dhulandi or Happy holi to their loved ones. On Holi date, the social media platforms are bombarded with Holi greetings and Holi stories. Colorful memes or jokes of Holi 2022 such as “Kab hai Holi” (When is Holi? Or Which day is Holi?) and “Bura na Mano Holi Hai” take rounds on the feed story of facebook, twitter and other websites. 

Holi Celebration in India

The most famous Holi is celebrated in India in the Braj regions. Braj regions are basically the areas associated with Lord Krishna. Regions like Mathura, Vrindavan, Govardhan, Gokul, Nandgaon and Barsana are the most popular ones. Here is the list of places in India where you may visit on the 2022 holi date and see the amazing celebration of Holi . 

• Barsana Holi

This place from Uttarpradesh is famous as the birthplace of Radha, consort of Lord Krishna. It is said that Lord Krishna used to come here from his hometown,Nandgaon to tease Radha and Gopis. He used to put colours on them, drench them in water and mock fights which later turned as tradition at this place. 

On this date of Holi, men from Nandgaon visit this place to take over the temple of Shri Radhikaji and in response to their act, women from Brasan stop them with their bamboo sticks or Lathis. This kind of playing Holi is known as Lathmar Holi.

• Holi in Shantiniketan

Celebrated at the abode of literature laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore, Holi at Shantiniketan is quite famous in India. Here, Holi is celebrated as the arrival of Spring, known as Basant Utsav. At this time, the whole Shantiniketan is surrounded by tunes of Baul singers and you may hear the eternal songs of Rabindra Nath Tagore played on instruments. LIke spring, the Holi here is full of colours, flowers and great ambience where you may see vivacious Bengali culture amalgamated with mesmerizing dance and music. 

• Holi in Pushkar, Rajasthan

Situated 10 km away from Ajmer, Pushkar is known for its Kapda Faad Holi. As name, here, only men are said to rip off their shirts while entering the Holi event. It is one of the most famous Holi celebrations of India that is visited by the tourists from all over the world including Israel, France, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Italy and many more. Here, the Holi party starts at 10 in the morning and lasts until late 5 in the evening. Holi is played by flowers and colors both. DJs and electronic music are played on the streets and the whole street looks like a small village where people from all the parts of world dance out their hearts, play with colors and enjoy the best time of Holi. 

• Holi in Vrindavan

Holi at Vrindavan is of utmost significance as it is the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Holi here is celebrated mainly at Banke Bihari Temple where devotees from far places gather to play Holi with colours, flowers, water and other Holi items. You may hear Radha Krishna Holi bhajans or songs in the background and enjoy the mesmerizing ambience of Temple while dancing on the drum beats. 

Holi Around the World

• Guyana- Known by the name of Phagwa, Holi is a national holiday and main festival that is celebrated with a great vigour at Guyana. Here, people gather at streets to play with colors, effigy burning and dance to the devotional songs of the city.

• Nepal- The neighbouring country of India with a good population of Hindus is known to celebrate Holi with a great vigour. Like other places, people here use colored water called “Lolas” and Holi colors to play on the last day of the Holi festival, known as “Chir”. 

• USA- With a good number of Indians residing, Holi is celebrated in the USA with immense joy and pleasure. On Holi date, parades are taken out where people throw hues and play holi while dancing, singing with their loved ones. 

• Trinidad and Tobago- In the twin Island of Trinidad and Tobago, Holi is celebrated by singing a special folk song, “Chotwal”. To sing it, people basically use two musical instruments known as “Dholak” and “Majeera”. They dance on its beats and exchange Happy Holi messages and sweets to show their happiness. 

• Singapore- Rang Barsay is the most popular Holi party event that is organized in Singapore. In the event, people dance on bollywood Holi songs, eat sweets, drink cocktails and enjoy drenching each other with Holi colors. Holi 2022 date for the party is on 10 March. So, if you are there or want to visit, you know where the Holi party is?

With the above Holi festival information, now you know how vibrant and widely celebrated Holi is. So, enjoy this auspicious day and live each moment to the fullest at Holi festival 2022. 

mPanchang wishes you a Happy Holi!