Holi is one of the most popular Indian festivals and is one of the most fun festivals that everyone enjoys universally! Not to mention, it is one of the hardest hit during the pandemic as the festival is all about closing distances.
As heart-breaking as it is to not be able to participate full-scale in the color play and fun, we can still celebrate the significance of the festival in many ways this year without totally missing out!
Here are 7 ways to recreate the fun in a modified way this year:
Color
Color is the main focus of this festival and is symbolic of many different things such as accepting all shades of life, as an equalizer to social classes, gender, race and also a symbol of forgiveness and as a way to celebrate Spring. All great themes that we need to pause and address in our lives today, no? In Hindi, if anyone refuses color during Holi, the typical thing to say is “Shagun hain, laga lo thoda sa” which means – “it’s a good omen, use even just a little”. So on that note, be sure to add color in as many ways as you can today – either store-bought or DIY colors for celebrating within your own family or a small friend gathering.
You can also celebrate color through:
- Tie-die – This is great fun for all ages and is perfect to create the Holi mood.
- Colored chalk – powdered chalk splashed around in the backyard or to make patterns and mandalas as a decoration.
- Color-based arts and crafts – check out this site for great free arts and crafts for Holi.
The Holi Bon-Fire
Holika Dahan or the Holi Bonfire based on the story of the demon Hiranyakashipu and Prahlad is an extremely important part of the festival and signifies burning of old energies, patterns and negative thoughts. Doing it around a huge fire can feel extremely cathartic and again a definitely needed ritual for the beginning of 2021! If it helps, even putting down all the negative patterns and thoughts on pieces of paper and throwing it in the bonfire can feel visually powerful!
Photo Booth Props
Rock your social media with Holi photo booth props.
The CultureGraft Holi Photo pack includes pandemic-specific Holi sayings such as “Sui first or pichkari first?” (Shot first or Holi water gun first?), “Super Rang (Color) Spreader”, “Rang Carona” (Ask your kids if they caught the bilingual pun..wait a minute ..did you catch it yourself? ). The pack also has popular Holi Hindi phrases such as “Rang mein Bhang”, “Rang Barse”, “Bura na Mano Holi Hain” “Dekh Bhai, Aaj Tho Rang lagega ” and so on. Great way to learn some celebration related Hindi phrases!
Introduce your kids to the iconic Bollywood movie Sholay (If you haven’t already) and get them to see the main character (Gabbar Singh) say “Holi Kab hain…kab hain Holi..kab?”
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Print them out on card stock and stick them onto dowels or skewer sticks and pose away! Don’t forget to share your pictures on the CultureGraft facebook page.
Music and Dance
What’s a party without music and dance? Here are ten Holi-themed songs that range from classics to the newest to take your party mood a notch up higher in the backyard
- Holi Ke Din, Sholay (1975)
- Rang Barse Bheegi Churnarwali, Silsila (1981)
- Do me a Favor Let’s Play Holi, Waqt-The Race Against Time (2005)
- Dekho Aayi Holi, Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005)
- Balam Pichkari, yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)
- Badri Ki Dulhaniya – Badrinath ki Dulhaniya (2017)
- Gali Gali – Pataakha (2018)
- Jai Jai ShivShankar – War (2019)
- Holiya me ude re gulal – Ila Arun
- Mohe Chedo Na – Lamhe
Food
No festival is complete without awesome food! Try making your own traditional Holi recipes such as Gujiaya, Thandayi or Mango Lassi or fusion twists such as Gulkand Mousse or walnut brownie Gujiya.
Read Online and Watch a Few Videos
There’s no dearth of resources online for Holi stories, significance and activities to read to kids. Here are a few favorites.
https://www.kidsstoppress.com/details/tell-your-kids-the-story-behind-holi
https://notesnmusings.blogspot.com/2019/03/amazing-facts-about-holi.html
https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/the-story-of-prahlad-and-holika
Virtual Get-Together
Zoom parties are no longer alien to any of us -so if you are having zoom get togethers – try these Holi zoom backgrounds to jazz it up. You can also coordinate with a few families in the community to record their Holi celebrations and stitch them together as an epic montage – will be an awesome memory for years to come!
Have fun and practice a safe Holi 2021!
Very informative!
And nice playlist!
Have a Happy and Safe Holi!
Vipanchi, loved the playlist!
Something for us to play together sometime!