Holika Dahan 2019 (20th March)

Holi is among the most popular Hindu festivals. Holi, on a broader basis consists of two religious rituals- One is 'Holika Dahan' and the other is 'Dhulandi' which is celebrated on the very next day of Holika Dahan.

While on Dhulandi, everybody apply herbal colours on each other and rejoice in the colourful spirit of this festival; the celebrations on the day of Holika Dahan are very different. Holika Dahan is celebrated on the Purnima (Full Moon Day) of the Shukla Paksha (Waxing Phase of Moon) in the month of Phalgun as per the Hindu calender.

Holi Date and Muhurat 2019

Story of Holika Dahan

Once there was an ardent child devotee of Lord Vishnu. His name was Prahlaad and he was the son of a cruel & extremely powerful demon king- Hiranyakashyap.

Hiranyakashyap was an arch enemy of Lord Vishnu as the Lord had earlier killed his demon brother who tried to threaten the very existence of pious beings on planet Earth. But call it a play of destiny, Hiranyakashyap's son Prahlaad since a very young age started worshipping Lord Vishnu and this irked his father (Hiranyakashyap) a lot.

Initially, Hiranyakashyap tried to threaten Prahlaad to with dire consequences if he did not stop worshipping Lord Vishnu, but when child devotee Prahlaad did not listen to him, Hiranyakashyap made several attempts to kill Prahlaad. However, Prahlaad's unshakable faith in Lord Vishnu always resulted in the Lord saving him from death.

Upon seeing this, Hiranyakashyap called his sister Holika and asked her to kill Prahlaad. Holika was a woman blessed with a very unique boon which made her absolutely free from the harmful effects of fire. In simple words- Fire could not touch her!

Hiranyakashyap got a huge pyre of wood created and made Holika sit on that pyre with holding child Prahlaad in her lap. After Holika sat on the pyre with Prahlaad in her lap, the pyre was set ablaze. Hiranyakashyap & Holika both thought that Prahlaad will turn into ashes but what happened was that Holika got burnt alive and died on the pyre while Prahlaad came out of that fire harmless!

That day was the Purnima (Full Moon Day) of the Shukla Paksha (Waxing Phase of Moon) in the month of Phalgun as per the Hindu calender and came to be known as the day of "Holika Dahan" (Burning of Holika). Since then, every year devotees perform a symbolic ritual of Holika Dahan to acknowledge the fact that Lord always protects His true and faithful devotees from all evils.

In this ritual, a pyre of woods is created and an effigy of a woman symbolizing Holika is placed and the pyre is set on fire.

Holika Dahan gives us a message that we must all walk on the path prescribed by God and must not fear the evil while doing so. This festival teaches us to have faith in the Supreme Power and worship God with a heart of an innocent child like Prahlaad! This year (2019), Holika Dahan will be celebrated on 20th March.

Holi Date and Muhurat 2019

Holi 2019

20th March

Holika Dahan Muhurta - 20:57 to 00:28

Bhadra Punchha - 17:23 to 18:24

Bhadra Mukha - 18:24 to 20:07

Rangwali Holi - 21st March

Purnima Tithi Begins - 10:44 (20th March)

Purnima Tithi Ends - 07:12 (21st March)

If you know anything more regarding Holika Dahan or Holi, talk to our astrologers.