50 Fun Facts About Holi

Holi is best known as the Hindu festival of what?

It also marks the end of winter and is an invocation for a good spring harvest.

Holi celebrates the love between Krishna and which cowherd girl of Braj?

In the Braj region where the pair grew up, celebrations run on for days after the main festival.

Holi begins on the evening of the full moon in which month of the Hindu calendar?

That falls around the middle of March, though sometimes in late February.

What is the bonfire ceremony held the night before Holi called?

Also known as Chhoti or 'Little' Holi, it symbolises the victory of good over evil and the burning of the old.

In the legend behind the bonfire, Holika tricked her nephew into sitting on a pyre with her. What was his name?

Her fireproof cloak flew off her and wrapped him, so the boy survived and she burned.

Which demon king, the father of Vishnu's boy devotee, was killed by the god in the form of the man-lion Narasimha?

He had a boon that he could be killed by neither man nor animal, day nor night, indoors nor out, so Vishnu found a loophole for each.

To dodge the demon king's boon, at what time of day did Narasimha kill him?

Neither day nor night, on a doorstep that was neither indoors nor out, on his lap, with claws that were neither handheld nor thrown weapons.

In which chapter of the Bhagavata Purana is the legend of the boy devotee and his aunt Holika found?

The story sets up Holi as a festival of the triumph of good over evil in honour of Vishnu.

According to legend, why did the young Krishna despair that Radha would not like him?

His mother Yashoda told him to ask Radha to colour his face any way she liked, and the two became a couple.

Which puranic work by a sage was the first to describe the divine couple playing Holi?

The festival itself is mentioned in the Narada and Bhavishya Puranas and by the poet Kalidasa in the 4th century.

In Shaivite tradition, Holi marks the return of which god of love, burned to ashes by Shiva's third eye?

His wife Rati fasted for forty days after Vasant Panchami until Shiva relented, and Holi falls on the fortieth day.

What is the traditional name for the coloured powders thrown at Holi?

Also called abir, it was traditionally made from medicinal herbs and flowers recommended by Ayurvedic doctors.

The flowers of which tree, called the flame of the forest, are the traditional source of Holi's red and orange colours?

Red sandalwood, hibiscus, madder and pomegranate give alternative reds; boiling saffron in water makes orange.

Which spice powder is the typical traditional source of yellow Holi colour?

It is sometimes mixed with chickpea flour to get the shade right; bael fruit and marigolds are alternatives.

Which vegetable is the traditional source of magenta and purple Holi colours?

It is often boiled straight in water to make coloured water; dried tea leaves give brown and indigo gives blue.

A 2007 study blamed which synthetic dye, used in some Holi colours, for severe eye irritation in Delhi?

Later studies found metal-based industrial dyes causing skin problems, prompting campaigns for natural colours.

What is the half-moon-shaped deep-fried sweet pastry traditionally offered at Holi?

It is stuffed with sweetened khoa, coconut and dried fruit, and looks rather like an empanada.

Which cold milk drink of almonds, fennel, rose petals, saffron and spices is the centrepiece of Holi refreshments?

Sikhs drink it at Hola Mohalla too, and the notorious variant is laced with bhang.

Bhang, traditionally distributed at Holi, is an edible preparation made from the leaves of which plant?

It was used in food and drink in India as early as 1000 BCE and is also handed out at Maha Shivaratri.

In Barsana's Lathmar Holi, women famously do what to the men who arrive from neighbouring Nandgaon?

It re-enacts Radha and her friends driving out Krishna and his gang; the men carry shields and sing provocative songs.

Lathmar Holi's festivities in Barsana and Nandgaon usually end on which day?

Legend says Krishna, treated as a son-in-law of Barsana, came to spray colour on Radha and was chased off with lathis.

Which city in the Braj region is the birthplace of Krishna, and a Holi tourist magnet along with Vrindavan?

In Vrindavan the festival lasts sixteen days, with special worship of the divine couple.

The Braj Holi game of Matki Phod, in which human pyramids break a hanging pot of dairy, honours Krishna under which nickname?

Women throw coloured water at the climbers to make the job harder; the sport survives in diaspora communities.

Which Sikh leader turned Holi into Hola Mohalla, a three-day festival of martial arts and mock battles at Anandpur Sahib?

Sikh soldiers competed in horsemanship, archery and military exercises the day after Holi.

According to Sikh court records, how many mounds of colour did Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his officials use for Holi in Lahore in 1837?

Sir Henry Fane, commander-in-chief of the British Indian army, joined the celebrations that year.

Which Mughal emperor banned the public celebration of Holi by decree in November 1665?

Earlier emperors let citizens of all castes throw colour on them; the ban lapsed after his death and Bahadur Shah Zafar even wrote a Holi song.

By what names was Holi known at the Mughal court in Delhi's Red Fort?

Mehfils were held across the walled city, with aristocrats and traders alike joining in.

In West Bengal, Holi is celebrated as Dol Jatra, meaning what?

Icons of the divine couple are placed on a decorated swing and rocked while worshippers throw abir at them.

Which 16th-century saint brought the Holi tradition from Vrindavan back to Bengal, telling followers to smear colour on Krishna's idol and eat malpoa?

His biographies say he was very fond of the sweet.

Basanta Utsab, the elegant spring version of Holi celebrated at Santiniketan since 1923, is associated with which poet?

Students dress in saffron or white with flower garlands and dance to the ektara and veena.

In Odisha's Dola Jatra, whose icons replace those of Radha and Krishna in the Holi processions?

The swing procession to the Dolamandapa in the Jagannath temple predates 1560.

By what name is Holi known in the Caribbean, in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname?

Fiji's version is Phagua, while Manipur merges Holi with the six-day Yaosang and Goa calls it Ukuli.

How many days does the Holi festival Yaosang last in Manipur?

It begins with the burning of a thatched hut and features the Thabal chongba group dance on the full-moon night.

In Maharashtra's month-long Shimga celebrations, which sweet flatbread is the main Holi delicacy?

Children shout 'Holi re Holi puranachi poli', and the colour play there waits until five days after the main day.

In Gujarat, what is offered to the Holi bonfire on the evening of the first day?

The second day, Dhuleti, is the colour festival, and Holi there marks the rabi crop season.

In Punjab, what are the eight days preceding Holi called?

Punjabis start throwing colours days early, and Holi there was also traditionally a day for making fools of people.

Kumaoni Holi in Uttarakhand is unusual for being what kind of affair?

Baithki Holi songs follow the time of day, using Peelu and Sarang ragas at noon and Yaman in the evening.

How many days does Holi last in the city of Kanpur, ending with the Ganga Mela fair started by freedom fighters?

Elsewhere in the Bhojpuri belt the festival is called Phaguwa, and families visit for Holi Milan.

In which year did Pakistan's parliament pass a resolution allowing Holi to be declared a public holiday for the first time?

Diwali and Easter were included in the same resolution, which proved controversial.

Which 7th-century Sanskrit drama by King Harsha mentions the festival of 'holikotsav'?

The festival also appears in the Purva Mimamsa Sutras and in Dandin's Dasakumara Charita.

Which of these was an early spelling of Holi recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary?

Hooly, Huli, Hohlee and Hoolee followed before editions after 1910 settled on Holi.

Which Holi-inspired 5K run franchise douses participants in coloured powder at checkpoints?

Holi One and the Festival of Colours Tour are music-festival spinoffs, and Bosnia hosts a BiH Color Festival.

A well-known American Holi celebration takes place at a Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in which Utah town?

New York hosts NYC Holi Hai in Manhattan and the Festival of Colors: Holi NYC.

How quickly do water systems recover from the temporary pollution caused by heavy-metal Holi pigments, according to reports?

Groups such as Delhi's CLEAN India campaign teach children to make safer colours from vegetables and flowers.

What is Holi called in the Konkani language of Goa?

It forms part of the month-long Goan spring festival known as Shigmo.

In rural Telangana, what do children play with in the nine days before Holi while singing folk songs called jajiri?

They collect money, rice, corn and wood, and Holi there is a ten-day festival.

In Sirsi, Karnataka, which folk dance is performed on the nights leading up to Holi every alternate year?

The dance runs on the nights beginning five days before the festival and draws tourists from across India.

In which language is Holi known as Phaguwa or Fagua?

The name is used in Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

What is the Punjabi wall-and-courtyard painting done at Holi, similar to rangoli, called?

Peasant women draw trees, flowers, peacocks and palanquins using a piece of cloth.

Which game, believed to have been played by the boy Prahlada, do Hindu tribes of Cholistan play before Holi?

Cholistan is a desert region in Pakistan, where Holi is observed by the Hindu minority.