Holi was not always about Holika burning. Medieval India calls it a festival of kema

HOli is one of the most popular and distinctive festivals in India. But how did the idea of ​​throwing color in springtime develop? It took two thousand years to take Holi in its recognizable form; At this time it developed from a festival focused on women and erotic love, which for the celebration of cosmic deities sponsored by states.

In many ways, this festival not only expresses the fun and renovation of spring, but also expresses the ideas of India’s gender relations and the politics of powerful – such as Regressive statement Shown by certain certain politicians.

Interestingly, a spring festival called “Holi” is probably the oldest living festival of the entire Sanskrit corpus – which is older than Deepak’s Deepatswa/Deepawali festivals. A “Holaka” Vasant Festival is mentioned in Edanda Atharva VedaDating for the 7th -8th century BC, but at this early date, there is no mention of demonus -burning or color powder. After this in centuries, seasonal festival Continue to developAnd, as historian Sam delimal WriteThere are also topical mention of “festivals of colors”. But we do not have a clear understanding of Holi because it is imagination today.

However, something changed in the first millennium CE. As I discussed elsewhere Think medievalIt was the time of extraordinary innovation, which was inspired by the Central Asian rulers such as Kushan and the business network brought with them. Sanskrit priest broke into circles and court literature. Suddenly – like springtime – from Kashmir to Deccan, there is a major bloom of spring festivals in sources. Historian Liona Anderson“The Indian Spring Festival (“Spring): One or several? Analysis analyzes. Names and ceremonies are many: Spring, Phalgunasovas, Chetrotswa, Madhutaswa, Kamotswa, Madana-festivalThere is a surprising common thread: they were all centered around a God which is no longer important in Hinduism. Kama, the god of erotic love.

Festive of work

Details of courtiers, confident, urban milial of courtley Sanskrit, Vasant festivals are everywhere. Around the 7th century, the poet (and possibly emperor) Harsha has to say in his epic, Ratnavali.

“Inspect the attraction of this, the festival festival … dancing to the touch of water with the citizens on the touch of water. Under the enthusiasm of the wine, the citizens are voluntarily confiscated by the cute women … All the quarters are presented with a mass of fragrant powder with yellow color … Look at the game of etiquette when the game is charged by the shocking gan The syringe is killed by water. Vasantotsava: The Spring Festival of India, Text and Tradition.,

This, and other verses, tell us why the work festival was so popular: common social boundaries were blurred, men and women publicly consumed drugs together. All castes and businesses participated in the merge. Women played a major role in normal rodness: they would roll about flowers, swallow common alcohol, and tease men. While gender roles in India have reversed today, some of them are alive in traditions like Lathmar HoliWhere women thrash men (ficklely) with sticks.

Medieval women will climb the swings in the gardens; They will also worship the work, whose idols were placed in the legs of flower trees. The work is believed to have been born in the spring, thus the blooming of the world was associated with the fertility of women, blooming of desire. Premodern Indians were not about sex and sexuality. Worshiping work, centrality of women for spring festival, and disintegration of social norms was part of the seasonal cycles of the world. Actually, Dr. Anderson suggests that throwing colors may develop by throwing flowers and pollen; Serring can also cause water sprays. In fact, rather clear verses are, courtyard in the length and width of Sanskrit, describe colored water and caress various body parts.

But despite the prominence of festivals in literary Sanskrit, they do not have their own independent myths in religiously interested texts, such as PuranasIn fact, Puranas As a result of Shiva’s grace, his springtime is very interested in the burning of work by the cosmic deity Shiva, given the rebirth. It is possible that Brahmin commentator was not enamored as the general public as God, and demanded them to be included in their own myths. This brings us to the next step in the development of Holi.

Also read: Yoga and work are not called in the same breath in India today. But it should be

Royal god

As we have seen, the Spring Festival was connected to its history with colors and ceremonies long back. Then, what about Holika’s burning?

Around the 11th century, Anderson writes, some Sanskrit manuals pay attention to “Holaka” because a ritual has been performed in the past. Other medieval texts, such as Blessing puranaDescribe a demon, Dhonda/Holaka, a maleist person who kills children. Therefore, says PuranaA Holaka festival should be done to burn it. She has been a terrible local deity, especially not associated with Prahalda or Vishnu.

Meanwhile, the development of the Darbari festival of Vasant continued, although the popularity of the work had declined significantly. By this time, the women had moved from the hero of the Spring Festival to the side characters for the joy of the king. The best imported powder – sandalwood, musk – was used by Royals to celebrate spring; The syringe were made of gold and silver, which were shaped of horn of wild bulls. Flowers and fragrant silk balls were thrown into sports; Elephants and lions shaped fountains add fragrant water with royals printed.

The last phase in the development of Holi, which brought all different varieties together and finally got rid of poor work, was taken in the 15th -16th century. A wave of Central Asian victory brought new states to the subcontinent. Holi can be easily strengthened, reducing a communal link; As historian Rana Safavi WriteMughal writers called it Eid-e-pink or Aba-e-Pashi; The paintings painting various Muslim rulers, from Deccan to North India, play with women, colors and flowers as their Hindu predecessors had. Indian Muslims were uninterrupted in the links of festival works – a scene shared by the new Hindu states also like Vijayanagar,

Actually, as Dr. Anderson writes, like Vijayanagar Granth Virupaksha-lust Perfectly resumed the Spring Festival as a chariot procession, where the state god, Shiva Virupaksha, was brought out to worship by a mob of pilgrims. Other texts, such as Mohana-tarangini, Chenna-Baswa-PuranaAnd Jimini-bruita In short, mention the worship of Lord Vasant (Vasant, not work), and describe the water game where the royal women teams will compete to spray each other for the joy of the king. By this time, the syringe were gemstones, which were shaped of birds, elephants, horses and deer; We also listen to the magnificent multi-colored pool, green, red, blue and yellow, in which swans and fish float. From this time there is a common theme in the spring ceremony: whether Hindu or Muslim, women were no longer the hero of the festival, nor were they publicly public as they were once.

Similarly, around the same time, the ‘Eastern’ tradition of Holika Burning deepened in the Ganges grounds. Gaudiya Vaishnavism from Bengal shared roots in Mughal-Shasit Vrindavan, which attracts protection from elite Rajputs. Now it was the turn of Vaishnavism to absorb the spring festival. As Anderson reveals, in the 16th century, Krishna worked in the texts as soon as Hari-Bhakti VilasaIn the next centuries, as the worship of the incarnations of Vishnu again became mid -Indian states, the burning of Holika was linked to the devotee of Vishnu; Throwing the colors was associated with Krishna’s sports, which were with the coured-girl. And so Holi, as we know, was born and rebirth, like spring in the endless cycle of the season.

The Anirudh Kanisti is a public historian. He is the author of the ‘Lords of Earth and C: A History of the Chola Empire’, and the award -winning ‘Lord’s of Deccan’. He hosts the echo of India and Yudha Podcast. He tweets @akanisetti and is on Instagram @anirbuddha. Views are personal.

(Edited by Ratan Priya)