The festival of Holi is celebrated on the day after the full moon in early March every yr. On the night the crowds of people gather together & Bonfires are lit on street corners to burn the residual dried leaves & twigs of the winter & cleanse the air of evil spirits & bad vibes & to symbolize the destruction of the wicked Holika, for whom the festival was named. The following morning,the streets fill with people running, shouting, giggling & splashing. Marijuana-based bhang & thandai add to the uninhibited atmosphere.

Promptly at noon, the craziness comes to an end & everyone heads to either the river or the bathtub, then inside to relax the day away & partake of c&ies. In the afternoon an exhausted & contented silence falls over India.

In the northern, western & eastern regions, Holi celebrates the joyful raasleela of Krishna & the gopis. Holi, also known as phag, is a joyous celebration of the rejuvenation of nature & renewed hope of happiness & peaceful coexistence. Especially famous is the lathmaar Holi of Barsana & Nandgaon. In Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, Sikhs celebrate a special festival called Hola Mohalla on the day after Holi. It marks a display of ancient martial arts & mock battles. Holi is also an occasion for the celebration of the burning of Kama, the Hindu equivalent of cupid, with the fire that emanated from Lord Shiva's third eye.

This exuberant festival is associated with the immortal love of Krishna & Radha, & hence, Holi is spread over 16 days in Vrindavan as well as Mathura - the two cities with which Lord Krishna shared a deep affiliation. Apart from the usual fun with colored powder & water, Holi is marked by vibrant processions which are accompanied by folk songs, dances & a general sense of abandoned vitality.

This festival has its roots in the story of Hiranya Kashipu, a king in the ancient times, who got a boon from Lord Shiva that nobody could kill him. Being granted the boon, the king insisted that his subjects replace their prayers of 'Om Narayana Namaha' (Salutations to Vishnu) with 'Om Hiranya Kashipu Namaha' (Salutations to Hiranya Kashipu). While all of his subjects complied, his son Prahlad objected to this. Angered, Hiranya Kashipu put Prahlad through many tests but the child always emerged the winner. One such occasion was when Hiranya Kashipu set fire to Prahlad who was seated in Hiranya Kashipu's sister, Holika's lap. Although Holika had the boon that fire could cause her no harm, she was the one who died in the fire & little Prahlad was not hurt at all. To celebrate this victory of good over evil, Holi is celebrated.

Another myth associated with Holi is related to Lord Shiva, the destroyer in the Hindu pantheon & his consort Parvati. It is believed that Parvati tried hard to attract Shiva to her so that he would agree to marry her. However, the Mahayogi paid no attention to her, which made Parvati desolate. At this point, Kama, the Hindu god of love decided to help her. But as he shot his floral arrow of love, Shiva opened his 3rd eye of destruction & burnt Kama. Later Parvati brought Kama back to life & the day Kama breathed again is celebrated as Holi.

The celebration of Holi draws from yet another legend of Hindu mythology. There was once a witch named Holi of Putana. She lived during the time of Lord Krishna. When the Krishna was born, his maternal uncle Kansa was all set to kill him as a voice from heaven had announced that this child would grow up to kill him. Kansa had ordered that all infants be killed. But Krishna got left out. So he sent Putana to kill him. Putana or Holi picked up the child from the cradle & put him to her breast, which had been smeared with poison. But the Lord knew. He bit so hard that he sucked the life out of Holi. So happy were the cowherds or Yadava tribes of Mathura on the death of the witch that they made an effigy of Putana & burnt it. This is one of the Holi rituals that is still followed in Mathura.

Today Holi is an excuse for Indians to shed inhibitions & caste differences for a day of spring fever & Big Fun. Teenagers spend the day flirting & misbehaving in the streets, adults extend the hand of peace, & everyone chases everyone else around, throwing brightly colored powder (gulal) & water over each other.

Each area celebrates Holi differently the Bhil tribesmen of western Madhya Pradesh, who've retained many of their pre-Hindu customs, celebrate holi in a unique way. In rural Maharashtra State, where the festival is known as Rangapanchami it is celebrated with dancing & singing. In the towns of Rajasthan — especially Jaisalmer — the music's great, & clouds of pink, green, & turquoise powder fill the air. The grounds of Jaisalmer's M&ir Palace are turned into chaos, with dances, folk songs, & colored-powder confusion.