The celebration of the ultimate triumph of Good over Evil. While, a feast of colors associated with the Holi is the face of this celebration, the original reason of celebrating Holi, lies in its soul.

Literally “Holi” signifies “burning” in Indian language. But, how it came to be associated with ‘burning’, is the story. The reference is found in the ancient Indian mythology. And it is the legend of King Hiranyakaship, with whom the celebration of Holi is associated.

Way back in the pre-Christian era, there lived a demon king named Hiranyakaship in ancient India. He wanted to avenge the death of his younger brother. The brother, also a demon, had been killed by Lord Vishnu, one of the supreme trio, monitoring the life and death in the universe, (according to the Hindu belief). To take on Vishnu, the tyrant king wanted to become the king of the Heaven, the Earth and the Underworld. He performed severe penance and prayers for many years to gain enough power. Finally he was granted a boon. Powered by the boon, Hiranyakshipu thought he had become invincible. Arrogant, he ordered all in his kingdom to worship him, instead of God. The demon king, however, had a very young son, named Pralhad. He was an ardent devotee of Vishnu. Despite his father’s order, Pralhad continued to pray to Vishnu. So the demon king wanted to kill his son. He asked the favor of his sister Holika who, because of a boon, was immune to fire. They planned that Pralhad would be burned to death. A pyre was lit up and Holika sat on it, clutching Pralhad. Yet, at the end Pralhad emerged unscathed by the fire, and Holika, the demon, was burned to ashes. The earnest devotion and complete submission to Lord Vishnu saved young Pralhad. Thus was the triumph of Pralhad, the representative of good spirits and the defeat of Holika, the representative of evil. Later, even the demon king Hiranyakaship was killed by Lord Vishnu. But that is quite a different story. It is from Holika, that the Holi originated.

Women preparing the Holika Dahan Bonfire.

The Bonfire.

This legend is relived even today on the Holi-eve when the pyre is re-lit in the form of bonfires. Even today, people celebrate this occasion. Huge bonfires are lit up every year on the eve of the full moon night of the Holi to burn the spirit of the evils. Hence the story associated with the soul of the celebration.

Now, let us look into the colorful face of the festival. How did the celebration of Holi assume a colorful face? Well, it is linked to yet another legend, the legend of Lord Krishna. Though of much later origin, it was still in the pre-Christian era. 

According to the Hindu belief, Krishna was a reincarnation of lord Vishnu himself. It was Krishna, the king of the ancient city of Dwarka, who popularised the tradition of Holi. The origin of the colorful and frolicking tone of Holi lies in the boyhood of Krishna. It all came up as part of his pranks, he used to play with his boyhood mates of Gokul and Vrindavan. Situated in north India, these are the places where he spent his childhood.

It was at this time of year, Krishna used to play pranks by drenching the village girls, with water and colors. At first it offended the girls. But they were so fond of this mischievous boy that soon their anger melted away. And, it did not take long for other boys to join in, making it a popular sport in the village. Later, as Krishna grew up, the play assumed a new dimension. It added more colors to Krishna’s legendary love life. The legend of Krishna’s courtship with Radha, and playing pranks with the ‘Gopis’. The girls in the ‘dairy’ village of Gokul were mostly milkmaids, and hence locally known as the ‘Gopis’. The same tradition has transpired through the ages, turning it into a community festival of the masses. As time kept flowing, the culture spread roots to other regions of the country. The Holi play of Krishna is documented in hundreds of ancient paintings, murals, sculptures and scriptures found across the subcontinent.

Image via Wikipedia

The temple of Lord Vishnu in Siruvapuri is named as Uragathan temple or Theenda Thirumeni Perumal temple. Even today, the priest doesn’t touch the main deity with his hands. This temple, even though, appears to be ancient, is very small in size. Lord Vishnu appears in three forms in this temple. The main deity is Varadaraja Perumal who is in the standing posture and found along with his consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. There is a small idol of Garud in the shrine facing the main deity.

There is a shrine where Lakshmi and Narayana along with Vishwaksena are found. Here, Vishnu (Narayana) is in the sitting posture, and this shrine is called as lakshmi Narayana shrine.

There is another shrine in this temple where the idol is made up of maragadam (granite) – Srinivasa Perumal shrine, where the Lord is found along with his consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. All the metal idols (utsav idols) are found in the shrine of Varadarajar. Near the shrine of Srinivasa Perumal, there is an idol of beautiful Krishna along with Rukmini. Alwars are also found in the Srinivasa Perumal shrine.

The corridor houses the shrines of Hanuman and Andal. The goddess of the temple Perundevi is also found in a separate shrine in the temple corridor.

Happy travelling.

For the past one and a half year, I have been hearing about the so called Doomsday. As far as I have heard and gathered information, it is said that the world is going to end on 21.12.2012. Is it so? Well! I don’t know. How can I say whether the world will end, or are we all going to die. Not for sure. I don’t want to die at least for now, when my son is hardly one year. I have my plans, dreams for him. And of course, I want to be a father one more time. 

All the nonsense surrounding the hysteria is the world will end on 21.12.2012. Who said this? No one. This is just a belief. Actually, these are all assumptions made by the geniuses of the world who don’t think on their own but make their livelihood out of the others. But surprisingly they didn’t find anyone better than the dead  Nostradamus. Because anyone alive would have been questioned about the legality, authenticity, quality, priority, publicity and all other. 

Image by Jorge Lascar via Flickr

Well I don’t want to go into details, what that great dead man wrote or said. I don’t want to know what the deadly Mayans believed. But i would like to share something that I read in one of the books titled Indian Myth’s written by Shahrukh Hussain. In this book, there is nothing great. The writer states that Lord Brahma is the creator, Lord Vishnu is the Administrator and Lord Shiva is the destroyer. Here we have a cosmic ocean where Lord Vishnu after hectic schedule orders Vasuki – Lord of Snake’s and Vasuki spreads his back so that Lord can sleep undisturbed. Now here one night of Lord Vishnu means our one millenia. It is said the when it is during this sleep that world is destroyed through the poison released by Cobra. 

Lord Brahma puts a seed into cosmic ocean which takes the form of an egg by the time world has been destroyed. Then that egg hatches itself and upon which it is found Lord Brahma sitting himself in the center of egg. Lord Brahma then makes the one half of the egg as Sky and other half into earth and the center yellow piece as Sun. So according to the book, the creation and destruction is the routine process and the end is inevitable. I was glued to further fiction that has been presented by the author. I loved this book as it kept me glued to itself

Once Ushinor planned to hold a sacrificial rite for the welfare of his subjects. When everything had been arranged, the Gods felt a bit ruffled. Among them Lord Agni (the God of Fire) and Lord Indra (the king of the Gods) were most worried. They thought that if Ushinor, the pious and munificent person, got the benefit of his sacrificial rite, their divinity would come to a naught. So they had a dark design in their mind.

Agni took the disguise of a beautiful white dove and Indra disguised as a hawk. We all know that hawk preys upon dove. So disguised Indra chased Agni disguised as a dove. Thus they reached the kingdom of Ushinor. They flew up to the place where Ushinor sat to begin his sacrificial rite. The endangered dove resorted to the king for shelter. He wanted the king to protect him from the attack of the hawk.

The kind hearted Ushinor gave the dove shelter and assured him to save his life from the attack of the hawk. At the very next moment the hawk arrived and asked the king to give back his prey. But the king would not. The hawk then told him that he had been chasing the dove quite a long way and was too tired and hungry. If the king refuses to give him the dove he and his family would die out of starvation.

The king understood the demand of the hawk. But he had promised to the dove to save his life from the threat of the hawk. So the king assured the hawk that he would give him a lot of other food. He could take anything he liked except the dove. But the hawk would not listen. He only wanted his prey, the dove. On the other hand, the king would not shift from his promise. He was ready to give him his treasures, several delicious foods, even his kingdom, but not the dove.

Then the hawk demanded the flesh of same weight of the dove from the body of the king. That would only satisfy his hunger. The king promptly accepted the proposal. Now he could both save the dove from danger and satisfy the hunger of the hawk.

Then a pair of scales was brought to weigh the flesh of the king. The king himself cut his flesh and started to weigh. But how strange! It never weighed the same as the dove. So the king cut more and more pieces of flesh from his body. At last he remembered Lord Vishnu and got up into the scale to make it equal to the weight of the dove.

At this point Indra and Agni left their disguises and introduced themselves to the king, Ushinor. They also told that they had come to spoil his sacrificial rite. But now they were quite satisfied with his pious and bountiful nature. So he would surely get the good result of his sacrificial rite despite not being able to perform it.

Then the chariot of the Gods came down from the heaven. Lord Vishnu asked him to come up and took him into the heaven. Thus the king Ushinor gave a celestial honor to piousness, generosity and bountifulness of man.

Being a concept of Hinduism, avataras are believed to be the Hindu god, Vishnu, ready to set the balance of yin and yang, (light and dark, good and evil), correct once more. It is generally believed that Vishnu has appeared as nine avataras so far, with a tenth yet to come. These avataras have appeared as a fish, a tortoise, a boar, a man-lion, a dwarf, a warrior, a prince/king, a cow herder and leader, an enlightened man, and the tenth will be as Kalki, the destroyer of the world. Other branches or individuals of Hinduism have also had the numbers of avataras up to twenty-five visits or more, including Vishnu as a swan, a human female, Jesus Christ, Zoroaster, and others.

Why would a god decide to visit this world as a fish, tortoise, or boar? These earthy missions follow, as described by mailerindia.com, comparativereligion.com, and hinduwebsite.com

1. As Matsya, the fish, Vishnu rescued the world from a great flood and brought back the Vedas, a collection of sacred knowledge and hymns. The Vedas had been stolen by a demon.
2. Vishnu returned as the avatara, Kurma, a tortoise to lend support to the mountain, Mandara, during a tumultuous ocean churning. The ocean was being churned to bring forth a life giving elixir for the gods, or devas. The mountain was sinking in the churning so Kurma lent his back for the mountain to stand on.
3. Vishnu appeared a third time as the avatara, Varaha, a boar. A demon named Hiranyaksha had sunk the earth in the waters. Vishnu slew the demon and saved the earth from sinking by bringing it up with his horn and rescued the Vedas, which had also been stolen.
4. The fourth time Vishnu returned as an avatara was as Narasimha, a half man-half lion. This avatara came to destroy another demon, Hiranyakahsyapu, who had grown too powerful and forbade any god worship other than his own.
5. Vishnu next returned as Vamana, a dwarf. The dwarf grows larger than the universe with three steps. With this miracle, he defeats King Bali who wanted to be king of the heavens.
6. Parasurama was the sixth avatara of Vishnu and the son of sage Jamadagni. He was sent to destroy all of the warrior caste who were endangering the priestly caste. Interestingly, Parasurama was defeated in a power struggle by Vishnu’s seventh avatara, Ramachandra.
7. The avatara Ramachandra was created to defeat the demon Ravana. Ravana was granted immunity from being killed by all gods and demons, but not humans. Ramachandra was a prince and king of Ayodhya and led an army of monkeys and bears to defeat the demon and rescue his wife.
8. Krishna was sent to destroy Kamsa, a demon. In his childhood, Krishna displayed feats of strength and defeated many demons sent to kill him by Kamsa. As a young adult, Krishna had affairs with many married cowgirls. In his mid-life, Krishna finally defeated Kamsa and helped the Pandavas in the Bharata war. It is said that he also brought about advancements in science, dance, drama, and many forms of art.
9. The ninth avatara is debatable. Some stories have Krishna as the ninth avatara while his elder brother, Balarama was the eighth. Buddha was sent forth to introduce a new religion, Buddhism. The stories connecting Buddha to Hinduism culture were meant to encompass this new religion with the larger, more powerful one. By the legends, many demons were getting too powerful and could not be defeated by the gods. Buddha was created to bring disbelief in the gods and demons. He preached that death was inevitable, that sacrifices were useless, and that there was neither Heaven nor Hell. The demons accepted this, became Buddhists, and were slain by the gods.
10. Tenth on the list is Kalki. Kalki will be the avatara who comes carrying a sword and riding a white horse. He will bring about the destruction of evil when the world is ending, allowing for peace when the earth is reborn in samsara. Though the world will be destroyed, peace will come again through the samsara. Even the gods and avataras will be reborn, also foretold by Krishna:

“At the end of my many births,

The man of knowledge finds refuge in me;

He is the rare great spirit who sees

“Krishna is all that is”” (Miller, 1986)

This is much like the Judgment Day in Christianity except that there is no rebirth for the earth and everyone on it. There will only be Heaven and Hell.

Evolution describes man as growing from fish at one time. From the fish, come the amphibians and other land-walking animals, then larger creatures, then man. The avataras represent some of these theories as the chains of avataras grow. First came the fish, then the tortoise, then the boar, all animals, growing in size. Next was the half man-half lion, representing early man. The dwarf arrived next, as man almost whole. The next avatara was the savage warrior, Parasurama, followed by an intelligent and caring prince, Ramachandra. Krishna arrived next, bringing about advancement in culture and society. Buddha brought about enlightenment, one step closer to god-like, while Kalki brings forth utter peace at the end of the world and the beginning of a new age.

It is interesting how the avatara legends compare with the more modern theories of evolution. Each incarnation is a little bit smarter and a bit more powerful than the previous incarnation. Does this lend some credibility to these legends or stories? Is there any chance that some of these avataras were real? Or is it just coincidental how evolution and the avataras parallel one another?

Another question about the avataras is the addition of named avataras. As mentioned earlier, some branches of Hinduism list twenty-four different avataras, adding fourteen more to the generally accepted ten. Some theologians suggest that these avataras were preparing the world for Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was sent to earth in a time of trouble and to introduce Christianity by the supreme god. Just like Jesus, all of the avataras were sent to earth to quell a variety of problems as decided by a supreme god. However, as some Hindu groups accept Christ as an avatara, two problems arise:

1. If Jesus Christ is just another avatar, does this reduce his power, birthright, and symbolism? In Christianity, Christ is the son of God or just God in human form, complete with all of life’s sufferings. He was not sent to earth merely to defeat a bunch of demons which is the main goal of many of the avataras. He was sent to introduce Christianity and to die a brutal death for our sins. Also, without Jesus Christ, there would be no Christianity. Without Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha), there would be no Buddhism. By accepting these two as avataras, if they were just avataras, wouldn’t that destroy their own religions? Or would these two religions be just umbrella religions of Hinduism?
2. If Jesus Christ can be accepted as an avatara, as well as Siddhartha Guatama and, in some cases, Zoroaster (of Zoroastrianism), then who else could be accepted as an avatara? Mahatma Gandhi? Mother Theresa? If some Hindu followers can promote certain heroes as avataras, doesn’t this diminish their own religion as well? Doesn’t this ploy destroy credibility or does it broaden their reach of followers? Maybe this is done to say their gods are still at work, sending newer avataras with each rebirth. If this is the case, maybe Dick Cheney, Saddam Hussein, and Usama Bin Laden are all avataras, sent in times of trouble and desperate need and to defeat demons that are causing trouble throughout the lands.

Now that the review of the avataras is over, here is the big question: Were the avataras real? The answer is “maybe”. Would the gods really send a fish to save the world? Why not? The real question here is: “Are gods real?” If there really is a god or gods out there, they can do anything they want, anything within their power. If they want to send a boar or a dwarf to save the world, then so be it. But if there really were demons and huge problems on earth, then why don’t the gods simply wash away the problems with a twinkle of their noses? In Hinduism the gods are shown to be in a power struggle with the demons and are not all powerful. In Christianity, even God rested on the eighth day. Even He is not on unlimited power. Even Mount Olympus got attacked now and then and Zeus got beat up a time or two. The gods need help sometimes and send out whatever help they can. Maybe the demons out there have their own avataras, too. Once in a while, things on our planet go a little haywire, out of control. Sometimes the bad overcomes the good and leaves us in quite a bind. Maybe the gods send out these avataras to help out; maybe the demons do, too. I don’t really know if there was a fish that saved the world but I do believe Siddhartha Guatama and Jesus Christ walked the same earth as me. Whether or not they had magical powers or survived on a grain of rice a day, I don’t know. They did some good, though, in their time here. You can call them avataras or simply good human beings. Now they are gone and there are still people out there fighting for what they believe in, right or wrong in our eyes.

If gods are actually out there, then they have sent forth the avataras and are continuing to do so.

References

Ellwood, R. S. (2005). Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions. In R. S. Ellwood, Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions (pp. 86-87; 512). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.,.

Hindu Website. (n.d.). The Concepts of Hinduism – Avatar . Retrieved June 27, 2008, from The Hindu Website: http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/concepts/avatar.asp

Kim, D. Y. (n.d.). The Avatar: Hinduism’s Christ. Retrieved June 30, 2008, from Hinduism’s Christ: http://www.euro-tongil.org/swedish/english/ehindu.htm

mailerindia. (n.d.). Concept of Avatars. Retrieved June 27, 2008, from Mailerindia: http://mailerindia.com/god/hindu/index.php?vish6

Miller, B. (1986). The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna’s Counsel in Time of War. In B. Miller, The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna’s Counsel in Time of War (p. 75). New York: Bantam Classic.

Valea, E. (1999-2008). The Divine Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity. Retrieved June 30, 2008, from Comparative Religions: http://www.comparativereligion.com/avatars.html#02

Robert Ford is the author of Christlike and The World of Hek, Book One: Forever.  Both are available wherever books are sold.  Also available on Nook and Kindle.