Holika Dahan is an essential story in Indian mythology, and it marks an important festival in the Indian tradition. There are different versions of the story of Holika Dahan involving King Hiranyakashipu, Prahlad and Holika. However, in all versions, the ultimate message is that good always triumphs over evil.
To give you complete information about the story of Holika and Prahlad, here we are giving the details of the story of Holika Dahan!
The story begins with the demon Hiranyakashipu who was an arrogant king. He took over the entire earth and ordered everyone to worship him only. However, he had a son named Prahlad who refused to worship him and instead prayed to Lord Vishnu.
holika dahan 2023
Hiranyakashipu was very disappointed and tried many ways to get his son to worship him, but nothing worked. He also orders many of his servants to kill Prahlad, but Lord Vishnu always saves him. Finally Hiranyakashipu called his sister Holika to kill Prahlad. Holika had a boon which made her immune to fire. So Hiranyakashyap made a new plan to kill his son Prahlad.
When Holika went to her brother, she took Prahlad in her lap and asked her to sit on the fire. That way, she would be consumed by the fire, and nothing would happen to her because she was immune to it. Holika agreed to do so. Hiranyakashipu assures that Lord Vishnu will not be able to protect Prahlad this time and his son will eventually die.
The day of Holika’s cremation came and she sat on the pyre with Prahlad. After that, he ordered the servants to light a fire so that Prahlad could be cremated. However, something surprising happened. Contrary to what Hiranyakashipu had thought, Holika was burnt to ashes.
Why is Holi celebrated?
Holika was burning in the fire and Prahlad kept chanting the name of Lord Vishnu and nothing happened to Holika. After the whole episode, Prahlad came out of the fire safely.
Later, he learns why Holika got burnt despite the immunity she got from the boon. According to legend, Holika was immune to fire only when she came in contact with it alone. Since she was sitting with Prahlad, her resistance to fire did not work, and she was reduced to ashes, while Prahlad was sincere in his prayer, so Lord Vishnu saved her.
Hence, the name Holi is derived from Holika. The story behind Holika Dahan shows how evil cannot survive for long. Honesty and good always win over evil. Holika is celebrated every year a day before Holi. In the festival, people light a wooden pyre remembering Holika. It is believed that on the day of Holika, evil is destroyed by fire and good wins.
Tradition of Holika Dahan
Hence, the story of Holika Dahan is of great importance in Indian tradition and people light Holika Dahan every year to remove all evils from their lives.
At present, Holika is celebrated a night before Holi, the festival of colors, in almost all the states of India. On this day people light bonfires to celebrate the victory of good, remembering the story of Prahlad and Holika. Music and dance activities are also organized around it to make it more fun and enjoyable.
Although this festival is more popular in North India, but these days people in South also celebrate it with great pomp. Here is a list of top 10 places to celebrate Holi. All apartment complexes have a Holika committee that takes care of the lighting, music and dance around the bonfire. It is interesting to see the happiness in people when they celebrate this festival.
However, it is also important to remember the story of Prahlad and Holika amid Holika Dahan as well as dance music. Prahlad’s faith in Lord Vishnu saved him from the evil deeds of his father. Also, it is commendable that the little boy Prahlad was not afraid of his father and refused to worship him instead of Lord Vishnu.
So, there is a lot in this story which we can learn in our daily life. Confidence and fearlessness is one of the most important virtues that we should live by on a daily basis.