India’s one of the most celebrated festivals is Holi – the festival of colours. It is a festival that marks the beginning of spring season. On this day people from various walks of life come together and play with colours and greet each other.

Every festival celebrated in India is linked with a very interesting story, the same is with Holi as well. The legend behind the festival of Holi is there was a ground-breaking lord named Hiranyakashipu. He was a fallen angel and was abhorred for his pitilessness. He viewed himself as God and needed everyone in his kingdom to venerate him like one. Notwithstanding, his own child, Prahlada, was a fan of Lord Vishnu and would not love his dad. Irate with the noncompliance of his child, Hiranyakashipu took a stab at killing his child various occasions, yet nothing worked. He at that point asked his malevolent sister, Holika, for help. Holika had a unique intensity of being safe to flame. In this way, to execute Prahlada, she deceived him into sitting with her on a fire. However, because of her insidious goals, her capacity ended up ineffectual and she was singed to fiery remains. Then again, Prahlada picked up this invulnerability and was spared. This is the reason the primary day of Holi is commended as Holika Dahan and symbolizes the triumph of good over malice.

There is one more story related to the festival of Holi that is when Krishna was an infant, he gained a particular blue skin shading because of drinking the harmed bosom milk of the she-evil spirit, Putana. As he grew up to be a youth, he would frequently feel dismal about whether the fair complexioned Radha or any young ladies in the town could ever like him on account of his dim shading. Surrendering to his edginess, Krishna's mom requested that he go and shade Radha's face with any colour he wished to. So when Krishna shaded Radha with colours, they both turned into a couple, and from that point forward, individuals have begun playing with hues on Holi.

In India Holi is celebrated with great pomp and glory and it is also a festival of various customs which include:

Making the bonfire of Holika: People start accumulating wood and other combustible things for the pyre. These materials are brought together in an open space and an effigy of Holika is placed on top of the bonfire and is burnt. This ritual is also called as Holika Dahan and is generally performed after sunset. People worship the Holika pyre and also dance and sing around the bonfire marking the victory of good over evil.

Application of colours: The very next to Holika Dahan is the Rangawali, Dhulandi or popularly known as Holi. On this day people apply colours to one another and greet. Delicious food is prepared at homes and sweets are exchanged. Holi is played with dry colours called gulal and kids play with water guns and water balloons. Songs are sung, drums are played and people enjoy dancing to different tunes.

Food: One of the most prepared dishes in Holi is a sweet called Gujiya. It is nothing but a dumpling stuffed with dry fruits and khoya. Thandai, a drink prepared using bhang is also served in this festival.

The festival of Holi is celebrated with lots of enthusiasm along the length and breadth of India however there are some places where Holi has got its own importance specially in places like Braj, Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana and Nandgaon. In addition, people of West Bengal celebrate the festival of Holi as Dol Jatra while in South India it is celebrated by worshipping the God of Love - Kamadeva.

People of Barsana celebrate this festival as Lath Mar Holi, where women light heartedly beat men with sticks while men try to protect themselves with shields.