Holika Dahan 2021 Date & Time, Holika Dahan Story
Holika Dahan is one of the Hindu religious rituals while celebration of the
holi festival.
Holika Dahan is celebrated after the death of Holika and protection of
Prahlad. Holika Dahan is always held at evening or night time as per the
Hindu calendar. Hindu people roast the “Jau” in the Holika fire and
bring them to their homes for the goodness and well being of the family
members. Also are burnt 5 “Upali” in the fire denoting that as burning
all their problems.
Holika was given a boon by Lord Brahma that she would never be harmed by
fire. There was a time when Holika sat on a bonfire with Prahlad on the
orders of her brother and Prahlad's father "Hiranyakashipu" so that
Prahlad gets killed but instead as Prahlad was a great devotee of Lord
Vishnu, the fire did no harm to him and Holika was burnt alive.
Holika Dahan 2021 Date and Time
Holika Dahan 2021 date is 28th March, Sunday.
Holika Dahan Muhurta for Delhi
Holika Dahan Muhurta - 06:37 PM to 08:56 PM
Duration - 02 Hours 20 Mins
Bhadra Punchha - 10:13 AM to 11:16 AM
Bhadra Mukha - 11:16 AM to 01:00 PM
Holika Dahan during Pradosh with Udaya Vyapini Purnima
Purnima Tithi Begins - 03:27 AM on Mar 28, 2021
Purnima Tithi Ends - 12:17 AM on Mar 29, 2021
Holika Dahan, also known as Holika Deepak or Chhoti Holi, should be done
at the time of Pradosh Kaal (which starts after sunset) while Purnimasi
Tithi is still prevailing. All good work should be avoided when Bhadra
prevails.
Holika Dahan Muhurta comes on the basis of following:
The first rule of thumb is to get Holika Dahan Muhurta
at Pradosh time while Purnimasi Tithi is still prevailing and Bhadra
gets over. If Bhadra occurs during Pradosh kaal but ends before midnight
then Holika Dahan should be done when the Bhadra period is over. If
Bhadra gets over after midnight then only Holika Dahan should be done in
Bhadra and preferably during Bhadra Punchha. One must avoid Bhadra
Mukha and in no circumstances Holika Dahan should be done in Bhadra
Mukha. If Holika Dahan is done in Bhadra Mukha period, it brings bad
luck for not only the individuals but for the whole city and country for
the full year. In cases where Bhadra Punchha is not available between
Pradosh and midnight period, one should do Holika Dahan during the
Pradosh kaal. In occasions when neither Pradosh nor Bhadra Punchha is
available (though which occurs rarely) then one should do Holika Dahan
after Pradosh time.
It is of utmost importance to choose right
Muhurta for Holika Dahan
as compared to choosing right Muhurta for other Hindu festivals as it
is believed that doing Holika Dahan at wrong time would only bring
suffering and misfortune whereas doing puja at an incorrect time or
muhurata will not bring puja benefits for other Hindu festivals.
Holika Dahan or Holi bonfire is followed by
Holi/Dhulandi day when people play with colors. We at
www.Durganavratri.in wishes all a happy and colorful Holi.
Holika and Prahlad Story
A great story of Hindu mythology revolves around the celebration of Holi festival as well as burning Holika
as Holika Dahan. The story of Holika and Prahlad and subsequent Holika
Dahan indicates that good always wins over the evil. Hiranyakashipu was a
demon King and father of Prahlad (who was a staunch Vishnu devotee).
Holika was Hiranyakashipu's sister.
Hiranyakshyap always wanted to be alive always and nobody could ever be
able to harm him. In order to achieve this dream, he did a tapasya of
Lord Brahma. One day, Lord Brahma was pleased and Hiranyakshyap was
granted a boon by Brahma that made him think he was eternal and the most
powerful man on earth. Lord Brahma could not grant him a boon that he
would not die as death is the ultimate truth that comes to everybody.
Thus Hiranyakshyap asked Brahma for these boons:
Neither any human being nor any animal could kill him
Neither anybody could kill him inside the door nor outside the door
Neither he could be killed in day nor in the night time
Neither somebody could kill him by any Astra nor by any Shastra
Neither he could be killed on the land nor in the water and nor in the air.
Hiranyakshyap thought that if death has to come for everybody, he was
able to persuade Brahma for boons which would made him immportal and
nobody could kill him. Thus he started thinking that he himself was the
God. He wanted all people to worship him as God. He started killing
people did not accepted his orders, also killed many people including
saints and rishis who refused to accept him as God. His son, Prahlad
also did not accepted his father as God. Prahlad was a true worshipper
of Lord Vishnu and saw Vishnu present in everything whether it was alive
or materialistic. Hiranyakshyap got very angry with his son Prahlad and
tried many ways to kill him. He was failed in a lot of attempts as Lord
Vishnu always saved Prahlad when Hiranyakshyap gave him troubles. Then
on one day, he called upon his sister Holika to help him. Holika had a
boon by Lord Brahma that she would never be harmed by fire nor she could
be burnt. Hiranyakshyap ordered Holika to sit on a fire with Prahlad so
that Prahlad could be killed. But destiny had some else in store for
them as because of ill mindset and the wrongdoings of Holika, she was
burnt alive and Prahlad was saved by Lord Vishnu.
Later one day, Hiranyakashipu became very angry with Prahlad again when
his son was worshipping Lord Vishnu and told him that the Vishnu is
present everywhere and he could see him everywhere. Hiranyakashipu tied
his son to a pillar and said that call here Vishnu to save you-he wants
to see if Vishnu comes or not to save Prahlad. Prahlad said that Vishnu
exists in everything, even in the pillar he has been tied. Upon hearing
this he tried to demolish the pillar and in that way, he hit upon the
pillar. As he was on his way to hit the pillar hard,
Lord Vishnu came out of the pillar in the form of
Narasimha (above half lion and other half human) in front of him, saved Prahlad and run towards Hiranyakshyap.
Lord Narasimha
caught hold of Hiranyakashipu at a doorstep and killed him by his big
and sharp nails. Hiranyakashipu died at the time when it was dusk (means
neither day nor night), doorstep (means neither inside the door nor
outside the door), lap (means neither land nor water and air), killed by
lion claws (means neither Astra nor Shastra) and Narasimha (means
neither human being nor animal). So,
Hiranyakashipu was killed that way as the boon by Brahma. Thus,
Prahlad was
saved by Vishnu god. This is a great real life story and Hindu
mythology which indicates that, truth and good always wins over the
false and evil.
Holika Dahan is celebrated by burning Pootana or
Putana instead
of Holika in some places of India. It revolves around the story of
demon king Kansa, Putana and Lord Krishna. Kansa sent Putana to kill
Krishna. Also a demon, Putana tried to kill Krishna with her poisonous
breast milk. She started feeding baby Krishna of her poisonous milk.
Baby
Krishna in an attempt to kill the demon Putana, started
sucking forcefully and she came in her original form. Finally Putana
died and baby Krishna was saved but got dark blue skin color. From then
onwards, people started celebrating Phagwah by burning Putana. On Holi
celebration day,
Krishna and Radha played holi by coloring each other's face's. Since then, people play holi every year by using colors.
Rituals of Holika Dahan
On the day of Holika Dahan, married women perform a ritual wherein they
prepare a puja thali for worshipping Holika which contains Roli, Haldi,
Wheat flour, 5 co-dung uple having hole, mauli (red thread), Jal and 5
or 7 jau bali. Women offer this puja to Holika for the well being and
good future of their family. Often, women can be seen doing rounds of
the Holika heap on the crossroads in the nearby regions. They offer
water to Holika while making rounds for 5 or 7 times. A red thread is
offered to the Holika in its diameter while making round for 5, 7 or 11
times . It is believed that offering haldi powder, wheat flour powder,
jau bali and co-dung uple to the Holika will bring well being and long
life of their kids. Women seek blessings from Holika for the prosperity
and health for the whole year for their families.
