Holikotsawa , popularly known as 'Holi' occurs on the full-moon day of the phaalguna month, which signifies the advent of spring and is the last month in the Hindu Lunar calendar. This year Holi will be celebrated on the 19th and 20th of March 2011. 

 

On this full moon night,  people light  bon-fires in the  streets and feed the fire with dry
cow dung cakes. This bonfire is called Holika . which lends its name to the festival. It is a representation of burning away the evil to absolve oneself of all negativity. Being the last festival of the Hindu calendar, people also use this opportunity to beg pardon from each other to start afresh.

The next day is called dhuuli-wandanaa , literally meaning 'salutation to the soil'. This day is celebrated by dancing in dry sand and applying dust/soil to the forehead as a symbol of being grateful towards Mother Earth.

Five days later (although celebrated on the dhuuli-wandanaa day itself in Northern India) is Ranga-panchami which literally means the 5th day of color celebration. 

This festival of color is marked with splashing of colored water on one another and smearing people's faces with colored powder. A joyous festival to mark the onset of spring, it is almost as if to ‘imitate nature', which, in this season, displays a collage of colors through colorful trees, flowers, fruits, etc.

Although Holi has religious undercurrents, it is more of a social festival involving a lot of fun-n-frolic and zest-n-zeal.

Another mythological story goes that Prahalad, the son of king Hiranyakashyap, was a great believer of Lord Vishnu. To challenge that, the father, a non-believer, summoned Holika, who had been granted a boon that she would be indestructible by fire. Holika sat with Prahalad in her lap in an open pit of fire. Lord Vishnu sent his shawl to cover Prahalad, who was miraculously saved while Holika was burnt.  

Though Holi is celebrated all over India and neighboring countries, yet Vrindavan and Braj have the largest celebrations. As Hindu mythology goes, Lord Krishna, considered to be the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, spent his childhood in Vrindavan with the milkmaids- Gopis , Radha being one of them. He is undoubtedly the presiding deity of the Holi festival.  Special songs are sung during Holi (known as 'Hori' songs) describing Lord Krishna and Radha's courtship, playing on the swings and playing Holi together.

Holi is considered to be a festival of romance, and young men and women take this as an opportunity to commence their courtship by making suggestive gestures or singing suggestive songs as a part of festivities.

The following verse 'kastuurii-tilakam' is an extract from the Sanskrit poetry 'shrii-krishna-karnaamritam' composed as invocation of Lord Krishna by Saint Leela Sukha Mani from Kerala.

The verse, set in shaarduulawikriiDita meter, describes the blissful & joyous form of Lord Krishna, wearing various ornaments & surrounded by the milk-maids as he enjoys their company.