Holi Festival
Holi is a Hindu spring festival, originating from the Indian subcontinent, celebrated predominantly in India, but has also spread to other areas of Asia and parts of the Western world through the diaspora from the Indian subcontinent, also known as the "festival of colours" or the "festival of love". The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships. It is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest. It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the Purnima (Full Moon day) falling in the Vikram Samvat Hindu Calendar month of Phalgun, which falls somewhere between the end of February and the middle of March in the Gregorian calendar. The first evening is known as Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi and the following day as Holi, Rangwali Holi, Dhuleti, Dhulandi, or Phagwah.
General Knowledge Questions on Holi Festival
Question 1: Holi is the main festival of
Answer: Hindus
Hindus are persons who regard themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism.[1][2] Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.
Question 2: Holi is also known as
Answer: Festival of colors
Question 3: In which place the famous "Lath maar holi" is played ?
Answer: Barsana
Lathmar Holi is a local celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi. It takes place days before the actual Holi in the neighbouring towns of Barsana and Nandgaon near Mathura in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where thousands of Hindus and tourists congregate, each year. The name means "that Holi in which [people] hit with sticks" (laṭh is a thick traditional staff).
Legend has it that Lord Krishna visited his beloved Radha's village on this day and playfully teased her and her friends. Taking offence at this, the women of Barsana chased him away. Keeping in sync with the story, the men from Nandgaon visit the town of Barsana every year, only to be greeted by sticks (aka lathis) of the women there. The ladies hurl sticks at the men, who try to shield themselves as much as they can. The unlucky ones are captured by the enthusiastic women who then, make the men wear female clothing and dance in public.
Question 4: By which name Holi is known as in Orissa ?
Answer: Dolajata
Question 5: The day when people throw scented powder and perfume at each other is known as
Answer: Dhulendi
Question 6: In South India, Holika Dahan is known as
Answer: Kama Dahanam
Question 7: In which hindu month, Holi is celebrated ?
Answer: Phalguna
Question 8: Holi celebrates the beginning of the new season called ?
Answer: Spring
Spring is one of the four conventional temperate seasons, following winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it is autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. At the spring (or vernal) equinox, days and nights are approximately twelve hours long, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses.
Question 9: Holi is celebrated on
Answer: Full moon day
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (more exactly, when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth – the near side – is completely sunlit and appears as a circular disk, while the far side is dark. The full moon occurs once roughly every month.
Question 10: The earliest textual reference to the celebration of Holi is found in
Answer: 7th century
Q11.In Holi, the bonfires are lit at night to signify the burning of
Answer: Holika
Question 12: In the past, people used to make Holi colours from flowers. Which flower was used ?
Answer: Flame of the forest
Question 13: Sikhs celebrate holi by showing their phycal strengh and power in
Answer: Hola Mohalla
Question 14: Prahalad, who escaped fire in which holika burnt , was the devotte of which God ?
Answer: Vishnu
Question 15: In Bengal, Holi is known as
Answer: Dol Jatra
Question 16: In Holika Dahan, the bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young?
Answer: Prahlad
Prahlada was a king, the son of Hiranyakashipu and Kayadhu, and the father of Virochana. He belonged to the Kashyap gotra. He is described as a saintly boy from the Puranas known for his piety and bhakti to Lord Vishnu. Despite the abusive nature of his father, Hiranyakashipu, he continued his devotion towards Lord Vishnu. He is considered to be a mahājana, or great devotee, by followers of Vaishnava traditions and is of special importance to devotees of the avatar Narasimha. A treatise is accredited to him in the Bhagavata Purana in which Prahlada describes the process of loving worship to his Lord Vishnu. The majority of stories in the Puranas are based on the activities of Prahlada as a young boy, and he is usually depicted as such in paintings and illustrations.
