Pan-India · February–March
Also known as Festival of Colours · Phagwah · Dol Purnima
When it’s celebrated
The exact date shifts each year — it’s fixed from the panchang. Cast your free kundli or check the calendar for this year’s muhurat.
Significance
Holi is the joyous festival of colours that celebrates the arrival of spring, the triumph of devotion and good over evil, and the playful, loving bond between Radha and Krishna. It dissolves social barriers as people of all ages and backgrounds smear one another with colour, marking renewal, forgiveness and the victory of faith.
The story
Holi's central legend is that of Prahlada, the devoted young son of the demon-king Hiranyakashipu, who tried to kill him for worshipping Vishnu. His sister Holika, granted immunity to fire, sat in a blaze with Prahlada on her lap to burn him; instead Holika perished and the faithful Prahlada emerged unharmed — commemorated by the Holika Dahan bonfire. The colour-play tradition is linked to Krishna, who, self-conscious about his dark complexion, playfully coloured Radha's face, beginning the custom of smearing colours.
Rituals
Across India
Holi takes distinctive regional forms: the Lathmar Holi of Barsana and Nandgaon in the Braj region, the week-long temple festivities of Mathura and Vrindavan, Dol Jatra or Dol Purnima in Bengal and Odisha (where Krishna's idol is carried on a swing), Shigmo in Goa, and Phagwah among Indo-diaspora communities. The Holika Dahan bonfire on the eve is common across the North.
Questions
Holi celebrates the arrival of spring and the victory of good over evil, recalling the burning of the demoness Holika and the saving of the devotee Prahlada. It is also a festival of love associated with Radha and Krishna, when people unite in playing with colours.
Holi is most closely associated with Lord Krishna and Radha, whose playful love inspires the colour-play. The festival also honours Vishnu through the story of Prahlada's deliverance.
Holika Dahan is observed on the full moon (Purnima) of Phalguna, and the colour festival follows the next day, usually in February or March. The exact date changes yearly as it follows the Hindu lunar calendar.
On the eve, a Holika bonfire is lit to symbolise the destruction of evil. The next day people smear each other with coloured powder and water, dance to music, and share sweets like gujiya and drinks like thandai.
Holika Dahan is the bonfire lit on the night before the colour play, commemorating how the demoness Holika was burned while the devotee Prahlada was protected by his faith in Vishnu — symbolising the burning away of evil.
Book a pooja in your name, find the muhurat, or read the day’s panchang — bring the festival into your own practice.
