Holi Activities for children
Hindu Festival - 27th March 2013
This is the Spring harvest festival which is held at the start of the dry season in India. It is a festival of fire and water, with many variations from one village or one region to another, fire being a form of life: a destroyer but also a purifier; water being a purifier and associated with fertility. In some places it is a single-day festival, in others it can last for two or three days. There are the common features of fire and water, a bonfire, on which coconuts are thrown to roast (the kernels being eaten with other foods such as popcorn, dates and roasted lentils); adults and children throw coloured water or powder paint over each other (in the UK perhaps not with the same exuberance as can be seen in India!). There is dancing, singing and much fun, games and pranks.
For farmers in India it is the time to harvest the winter crop and to begin the new sowing.
During the celebrations several stories are re-told: Krishna’s mischievous pranks as a child; of Kama-Deva (god of love) and Shiva (the destroyer aspect of the One God); of Holika (a demoness) whose power was broken by Prince Prahlad as he escaped the flames of the bonfire set as a trap for him and she was consumed in its flames. It is probably from Holika that the festival gets its name.
Printable activities below!
