Publish Date: | Sat, 05 Mar 2022 10:25 AM (IST)
Holashtak ki Kahani: Holika Dahan is done on the full moon date of Falgun month and the next day Dhulendi (Holi) will be celebrated with color and gulal. According to the scriptures, Holashtak is started eight days before Holika Dahan. According to this, no auspicious rites are performed after Holashtak till Holi. According to classical tradition, this year Holashtak will take place from March 10 to March 18. During this, 16 rites like naming ceremony, janeu sanskar, home entry, marriage ceremony etc. will be banned. These auspicious works will start only after Dhulendi. It is also believed that Prahlad was subjected to a lot of torture during the first eight days of Holi from Ashtami to Poornima. It became a tradition to consider those eight days full of torture as inauspicious. In Hinduism, auspicious work is not done in any house during the first eight days of Holi.
Holashtak ki Kahani: Devotee Prahlad was tortured
According to Pt. Manoj Shukla, Holashtak is associated with the story of Prahlad, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, and his father, the tyrant Hiranyakashipu. According to Skanda Purana, the demonic king Hiranyakashipu was jealous and jealous of Lord Vishnu. Whoever worshiped Lord Vishnu in his kingdom was punished with death. No one in his kingdom worshiped Lord Vishnu for fear of the king’s orders. According to legend, King Hiranyakashipu’s son Prahlad was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. When the king came to know about his son Prahlad’s devotion to Vishnu, he explained to Prahlad, but Prahlad did not stop worshiping Lord Vishnu. Enraged by this, the king executed his son.
On the orders of the king, the soldiers committed many atrocities on the devotee Prahlad. He was left to die among wild animals, thrown into a river, even thrown from a high mountain. Prahlad survived every punishment by the grace of God. At last the king made his sister Holika sit on his lap and ordered Prahlad to be burnt alive. The king’s sister Holika had a boon that she would not be consumed even in the fire. Prahlad was saved by the grace of God but Holika got burnt. From that day the tradition of Holika Dahan started.
Posted By: Arvind Dubey