Holika Dahan 2025

How People Celebrate Holika Dahan?

To celebrate this festival, people gather around bonfires on Holika Dahan night, perform prayers and rituals, and burn dummies of Holika.

The burning of the dummy represents the burning of evil and negative energies, while the fire symbolises the purification of the soul.

In common terms, people refer to it as Holika Devi Puja. In parts of middle and South India, people tend to refer to the festival of Holika Dahan as Sammat Jaarna.

• What is the ritual of Holika Dahan?

1. People tie the sacred thread around the pyre and then worship it using diyas. People also light diyas next to the pyre.
2. The next thing includes setting the pyre on fire. Once the pyre is lit, people offer a lot of stuff to the sacred and holy fire.
3. People offer coconut along with ghee, and in North India, people also offer wheat crops to the sacred or holy fire.
4. While the pyre is burning, people chant sacred mantras in order to keep Holika’s spirit at peace.
5. While chanting the mantra, people also circle the pyre in rounds of three, five or seven while holding a pot of water in their hands.
6. After the Holika Dahan ceremony, the next day is celebrated as Holi, the festival of colours - a celebration of spring, love, and the victory of good over evil.

What is the story behind Holika Dahan?

To understand the significance of Holika Dahan, we must first know the story behind Holika Dahan. The story behind Holika Dahan centers on the triumph of devotion over evil.

Demoness Holika And Kid Prahlad

This event is why Holika Dahan is celebrated the night before Holi, symbolizing the eternal victory of righteousness.

1. The Egoistic King: The demoness, Holika brother name was Hiranyakashyap. He received a boon that made him virtually indestructible. Filled with ego, he demanded that everyone worship him.
2. Prahlad's Faith: His son, Prahlad, refused and remained a faithful devotee of Lord Vishnu. This deeply angered the king.
3. The Evil Plot: Hiranyakashyap's sister, Holika Devi, who possessed a protective shawl, tricked Prahlad into sitting with her on a pyre. The plan was for Prahlad to experience the Holika burn while she remained safe.
4. Divine Intervention: The protective shawl flew from Holika and covered Prahlad. Prahlad walked out unharmed, but Holika was consumed by the Holi fire. This is the core event that defines the significance of Holika Dahan—the victory of Prahlad's good heart over evil.
5. Vishnu's Justice: Later, Lord Vishnu appeared as Narasimha (part-man, part-lion) to kill Hiranyakashyap, respecting the conditions of his boon.

Story Behind Holika Dahan in South India

Holika Dahan in South India is known as Kama Dahanam or Kaman Pandigai (the burning of Kama).

The mythological story behind Holika Dahan in the North (Prahlad and Holika) is often replaced by the story of Kama Dahanam in the South, which is as follows:

• The Legend: It is associated with the legend of Lord Shiva burning the God of Love, Kamadeva (Kama), to ashes with his third eye.
• The Reason: Kama had interrupted Shiva's intense meditation to help the Goddess Parvati bring him back to the world.
• The Significance: The effigies burned during the Holi fire represent Kama, symbolizing the destruction of worldly desires, ego, and lust. This is a practice of spiritual purification.
• The Outcome: The day after Kama Dahanam, the festival of colors is celebrated to honor Kama's wife, Rati, who successfully pleaded with Shiva to restore her husband.

Summary

Holika Dahan is the ritual burning of the Holi fire the night before Holi, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. The story behind Holika Dahan involves the demoness Holika Devi failing to burn her devotee nephew, Prahlad. She was consumed by the fire (Holika burn), while Prahlad survived, establishing the festival's deep significance of Holika Dahan. In South India, it's known as Kama Dahanam.

Read About Other Important Festivals