Temple Tales

The history of the Holika Dahan dates back to millennia, when the demon king Hiranyakashipu ruled the universe He terrorized everyone and considered God, Vishnu, and His devotees to be his arch enemy.

When the demon saw that his own son, Prahlada, had become a devotee of Vishnu, he became enraged and decided to kill Prahlada. But Lord Vishnu protected Prahlada during all the assassination attempts.

Hiranyakashipu then ordered his sister, Holika to take Prahlada into fire and burn him to death. Holika had a boon of 'immunity from fire' yet Prahlada came out of the fire, unharmed, whereas Holika was reduced to ashes.

Why? Because she had been given that blessing by Brahma with the condition that it shouldn't be used to cause harm to others. This burning of Holika is signified by Holika Dahan.

Prahlada signifies our godly, serving, selfless nature; Holika, the ungodly, exploitative, selfish tendency that covers our original nature. When gold is placed in fire, the impurities melt away and the purified gold emerges, shining brighter.

Similarly, the purifying Holi bonfire signifies the burning away of our superficial, lower tendency and the re-emergence of our essential, higher nature.

Prahlada emerged victorious from the fire because of his great devotion to the Lord. Similarly, we can also emerge successful through all the fire-like tribulations of life by developing unflinching devotion.

With this devotional training, when we light the Holi bonfire, then the sacred fire will illuminate us not just externally, but also internally Thanks for reading 👏