Holi Festival: Celebrating the victory of Good over Evil

Holi is the most vibrant Hindu festival and is celebrated every year with same pep and enthusiasm. The festival marks the end of winters and the arrival of spring. This 2 day-auspicious festival is celebrated with vibrant colors, sweets and lots of love! Along with this celebration, ‘Holi Pooja’ is one of the most important aspects of this festival and the festival is incomplete without it.

Holi Pooja

Holi Pooja is a key ritual of Holi. The preparations for the festival start almost 40 days before the festival actually arrives. The Holi Pooja is offered first to Holika though she was a demon who had vile intentions of killing Prahalad, an avid devotee of Lord Vishnu. The Pooja is followed by ‘Holika Dahan’. In Holika dahan, Holika was set ablaze and burnt to ashes, which symbolizes the burning or end of evil things. Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna are worshiped on this day.

Thus, Holi is a celebration of the victory of good over bad. Bonfires are set up by people in the evening and they then offer Pooja to it. The dahan is done on an auspicious time i.e. mostly after sunset. This festival is also considered auspicious for the married women, as it ensures healthy life and well-being of their spouse. The devotees follow proper methods on how to perform the pooja and seek blessings from god. So here is the proper ‘Vidhi’ on how to perform Holi Pooja.

Holi Pooja Vidhi

Things you need-

1. An Earthen lamp
2. Ghee
3. Flowers
4. Dhoop stick or agarbatti
5. Ashtgandh, chandan or roli
6. Dry coconut
7. Akshat or raw rice
8. Some water
9. Moong Daal
10. Dry turmeric
11. Raw yarn
12. Badkula garland (A garland made of Cow-dung)
13. Grains
14.some sweets

Vidhi for Holi Pooja

1. The pooja begins with preparing a thaali for pooja by placing all the necessary things in it.
Then, the devotees lighten the earthen lamp and dhoop sticks and worship Lord Ganesha by chanting mantras including- “ॐ गं गणपतये नमः” (Om Gan Ganpataye Namah). Then some rice, flowers, and water are offered while worshiping lord Ganesha.

2. Following this, Goddess Durga and Lord Narasimha are worshiped by chanting their names or mantras such as- “ॐ प्रह्लादाय नमः” (Om Prahladaya Namah) . They are offered tilak, dry coconut, water, and sweets.

3. The worshiping of Gods and Goddesses is followed by worshiping of Holika which is present in the form of the Bonfire. The devotees offer Dhoop, rice, coconut, turmeric, flowers, sweets, moong daal, and badkula garland to the Holika or bonfire. The prayer if offered by chanting-

“Some people created you due to constant fear of blood sucking demons. Therefore, I worship you. I seek prosperity, wealth, and power for me.” The mantra chanted is-

अहकूटा भयत्रस्तैः कृता त्वं होलि बालिशैः
अतस्वां पूजयिष्यामि भूति-भूति प्रदायिनीम्‌

This is followed by pouring of water around Holika while taking parikrama around it and then emptying a glass of water in front of it.
4. The devotees then roast the fresh harvest and distribute it as prasad to all. The next morning, you should bring the ashes from the bonfire home, as they are believed to protect you from inauspicious powers.

If you need any help regarding Puja vidhi/procedure, then you can get in touch with us. Our Pandits will help you perform puja in a right manner.

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