HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL HOLI

History of Holi

Holi is an ancient festival of India and was originally known as 'Holika'. The festivals finds a detailed description in early religious works such as Jaimini's Purvamimamsa-Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras. Historians also believe that Holi was celebrated by all Aryans but more so in the Eastern part of India.

It is said that Holi existed several centuries before Christ. However, the meaning of the festival is believed to have changed over the years. Earlier it was a special rite performed by married women for the happiness and well-being of their families and the full moon (Raka) was worshiped.

Calculating the Day of Holi

There are two ways of reckoning a lunar month- 'purnimanta' and 'amanta'. In the former, the first day starts after the full moon; and in the latter, after the new moon. Though the amanta reckoning is more common now, the purnimanta was very much in vogue in the earlier days.

According to this purnimanta reckoning, Phalguna purnima was the last day of the year and the new year heralding the Vasanta-ritu (with spring starting from next day). Thus the full moon festival of Holika gradually became a festival of merrymaking, announcing the commencement of the spring season. This perhaps explains the other names of this festival - Vasanta-Mahotsava and Kama-Mahotsava.

Reference in Ancient Texts and Inscriptions

Besides having a detailed description in the Vedas and Puranas such as Narad Purana and Bhavishya Purana, the festival of Holi finds a mention in Jaimini Mimansa. A stone incription belonging to 300 BC found at Ramgarh in the province of Vindhya has mention of Holikotsav on it. King Harsha, too has mentioned about holikotsav in his work Ratnavali that was written during the 7th century.

The famous Muslim tourist - Ulbaruni too has mentioned about holikotsav in his historical memories. Other Muslim writers of that period have mentioned, that holikotsav were not only celebrated by the Hindus but also by the Muslims.

Reference in Ancient Paintings and Murals

The festival of Holi also finds a reference in the sculptures on walls of old temples. A 16th century panel sculpted in a temple at Hampi, capital of Vijayanagar, shows a joyous scene of Holi. The painting depicts a Prince and his Princess standing amidst maids waiting with syringes or pichkaris to drench the Royal couple in coloured water.

A 16th century Ahmednagar painting is on the theme of Vasanta Ragini - spring song or music. It shows a royal couple sitting on a grand swing, while maidens are playing music and spraying colors with pichkaris.

There are a lot of other paintings and murals in the temples of medieval India which provide a pictoral description of Holi. For instance, a Mewar painting (circa 1755) shows the Maharana with his courtiers. While the ruler is bestowing gifts on some people, a merry dance is on, and in the center is a tank filled with colored water. Also, a Bundi miniature shows a king seated on a tusker and from a balcony above some damsels are showering gulal (colored powders) on him.

Legends and Mythology

In some parts of India, specially in Bengal and Orissa, Holi Purnima is also celebrated as the birthday of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (A.D. 1486-1533). However, the literal meaning of the word 'Holi' is 'burning'. There are various legends to explain the meaning of this word, most prominent of all is the legend associated with demon king Hiranyakashyap.

Hiranyakashyap wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship only him but to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana. Hiaranyakashyap commanded his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a boon whereby she could enter fire without any damage on herself. However, she was not aware that the boon worked only when she enters the fire alone. As a result she paid a price for her sinister desires, while Prahlad was saved by the grace of the god for his extreme devotion. The festival, therefore, celebrates the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion.

Legend of Lord Krishna is also associated with play with colors as the Lord started the tradition of play with colours by applying colour on his beloved Radha and other gopis. Gradually, the play gained popularity with the people and became a tradition.

There are also a few other legends associated with the festival - like the legend of Shiva and Kaamadeva and those of Ogress Dhundhi and Pootana. All depict triumph of good over evil - lending a philosophy to the festival

Sensex falls for 3rd day on reform concerns, weak Asian cues

Erasing initial gains, the BSE index Sensex fell for the third day today losing 28 points on concerns over the government's ability to push through reforms and weak global cues. After a volatile trade, the 30-share barometer closed lower by 27.77 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 17,145.52 points.

The benchmark index had lost 464 points in the last two trading sessions. The gauge touched a high of 17,239.35 points and also fell to the day's low of 17,008.77 points as foreign funds remained on the sidelines on reform concerns, brokers said. The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 1.95 points to 5,220.45, after moving between 5,243.85 and 5,171.45. Market major Reliance Industries fell by further by 1.94 per cent to Rs 761.35 followed by a loss of 2.68 per cent yesterday, pulling the Sensex down.

Brokers said the falling trend was partly checked on higher opening in European stocks and a gain in the second most heaviest on the Sensex Infosys, which closed up 1.07 per cent at Rs 2,879.60. They said every rise in the market was encashed by speculators amid investors and major market players looking to the upcoming budget on March 16.

UPA FAILURE

The fundamental cause of UPA-1 and UPA-2’s failures is that Sonia Gandhi kept charge of politics while leaving government to Manmohan Singh.

Since cabinet ministers owed their jobs to Sonia Gandhi or were — like Sharad Pawar — laws unto themselves, the prime minister had no control over government or decision making. If Manmohan Singh had vision, it could not be translated into policy. He tried to operate via the bureaucracy but faced impenetrable political walls. Example: the 2G scam.

its rockin both s.r.k I LOVE YOU checkid out!!!!!!!!!!!: Management flaws of UPA

its rockin both s.r.k I LOVE YOU checkid out!!!!!!!!!!!: Management flaws of UPA: management lessons have a comprehensive appeal worldwide. Not corporate alone but any other form of organizations, even the governments ca...

Management flaws of UPA

management lessons have a comprehensive appeal worldwide. Not corporate alone but any other form of organizations, even the governments can benefit from these lesson if properly implement. UPA government surrounded with issues such as a series of corruption scams, black money, cash-for-votes scam, increasing public unrest etc, should learn some of these lessons to introspect and make corrective steps. Here is a list of some of the major management flaws of the ruling UPA government.

Failure to Weed out the Bad Ones

Manmohan Singh's credibility is beyond reproach, but his cabinet is suffering from widespread corruptions and the government is hunting in the dark for ideas to meet the challenges. These are not just mere scams, but they raise a lot of questions on government's inability to manage the crises. The recent Adarsh Housing scam, Commonwealth Games and the 2G spectrum scam pushed Congress party in much deeper soup. From opposition parties to the tax payers, all expressed their discontent over government's opaque attitude regarding the scams. The high demands for scrutinizing the scams were not unwarranted. The failure to be open about the scams led to a stalled parliament and also portrayed Manmohan Singh the meekest and the weakest Prime Minister India ever had, partially for no reason of his own but of his co-ministers. A leader should be extra careful while framing his team structure. It is at times important to take certain unconventional decisions, knowing very well that it may raise a lot fingers. The manager should be bold enough to frame a team that will work as per his goals. His attitude towards his team mates should not be biased. Members not fitting the team should be thrown out at the earliest.