Holi 2027: Holika Dahan and the day of colour
Holi is kept on the full moon of Phalgun, the last of the lunar year. On its night the Holika fire is lit, and the next day, Dhulivandan, is for colour, visits and sweets.
When it falls next
Holi in each region
What Holi is
The fire remembers the devotion of young Prahlad. His father Hiranyakashipu, who wanted to be worshipped in place of Vishnu, asked his sister Holika, who could not be burned, to sit in a fire with the boy in her lap. Prahlad kept repeating Vishnu's name and came out unharmed, and Holika was burned.
So the fire is a sign of devotion kept and of pride undone. Families walk around it, offer coconut, grain and sweets, and take a little of its ash home.
The day after is for colour, with the spring's own flowers in the old way, and for visiting elders and friends. In Krishna's land, Braj, the colour recalls his play with the gopis.
How families keep it at home
In the days before, children gather wood and cow-dung cakes for the neighbourhood fire. On the evening itself the women of the house worship the Holi before it is lit, with kumkum, turmeric and a thread wound around it.
In Maharashtra puran poli is the naivedya: a sweet flatbread of chana dal and jaggery offered to the fire and eaten at home. Coconut is offered and its pieces shared.
On Dhulivandan families greet each other with gulal on the cheek, call on elders, and share sweets.
How it differs by region
In Maharashtra the fire is called Holi or Shimga, and the colour is played on Rangpanchami, five days after the full moon, with Dhulivandan the day after the fire.
In the north the colour is played the morning after the fire, and in Mathura and Vrindavan the festival runs for many days.
In Bengal the full moon is Dol Purnima, when Krishna is taken out on a swing and coloured with abir.
How its date is set
Holika Dahan is kept on the evening of the full moon of Phalgun, after sunset, in the period called pradosh while the purnima holds, and outside the period called bhadra.
Dhulivandan is the next day, the pratipada of the dark half, which begins the month of Chaitra where months end at the full moon.
Read the Vishnu aarti, remembering Prahlad's devotion, and the Krishna aarti.