Let your hair down. Let the revelry begin. Holi - the festival of colors and gaiety, song and dance (some of which border on the bawdy!), is here at last!! Delayed by at least one month this year because of an anomaly in the Hindu Calendar, by which an extra month has quietly slipped into the calendar year, which in any case is 56 years ahead of the Roman calendar. Impatient Indians, all over the world, have been waiting eagerly for Holi to indulge in a riot of merrymaking.

Dressed in spotless white kurtas, fists clenched to conceal 'gulaal' (red color) or myriad colored powders - they will greet friends, family members and guests in a welcoming embrace and then rub the most vivid colors on their faces!! Amid shrieks of delighted laughter and a few mild protestations - everyone will then proceed to drench everyone with 'pichkaris' or water guns filled with colored water. Guests are treated to popular Indian 'mithai' or sweetmeats to be washed down by 'thandai' - an intoxicating drink made of crushed almonds, dry fruits and 'bhang' or herbal cannibis.

This Holi, indiayogi suggests a gift of Color Therapy Candles, White Marble Boxes inlaid with bright, colorful, semi-precious stones and if you really want to please a valued friend or a client - richly coloured 'Chakra Stones' to make your aura more vivid and harmonized, or a bright Tussar Silk Painting depicting the colorful Ras Leela performed by Lord Krishna and the 'Gopis' or milkmaids of the village.

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The legends around the origins of Holi are clearly after-thoughts, seeking to explain social phenomena in mythical terms. One of the more popular myths revolves around Lord Krishna's childhood. Putna, a she-demon, was sent by Krishna's uncle, the tyrant king Kansa, to kill Krishna under the guise of feeding him with her poisoned milk. Krishna while seeing through this treachery, suckled on her breasts till she died. Her death was then celebrated by Krishna and his family and the village folk, as Holi. Those who attribute the origin of festivals to seasonal cycles maintain that Putna represents winter, and her death the cessation of winter. Then, with a jaunty step, spring comes dancing in!

Holi is one of the few genuine Indian festivals celebrated in the grand tradition of ancient spring festivals around the world. A bacchanalian event, Holi in India allows people from every social strata to emotionally overindulge in an uninhibted display of self-expression. Because for the rest of the year, the average individual conducts himself, or herself, in a more consciously formal and restrained manner. Psychologically speaking, Holi, like other spring festivals celebrated around the world serves the purpose of a safety valve on a pressure cooker - it allows people to vent enough steam for one whole day. This helps in maintaining their emotional status quo then all the year through.

Get more fascinating insights into this fascinating festival of India. Read our special Holi article in the Festivals Section. Click here.

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