What is Holikā dahan?

Holikā dahan is the bonfire lit on the night before the colours are thrown. Effigies of Holikā are burnt on it in many regions.

What does the Holikā story teach?

Devotion to God protects the devotee even against a powerful king. Good overcomes evil, and arrogance destroys itself.

What second story is attached to Holi?

Braj tradition links Holi to the play of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā with coloured powder. Kṛṣṇa is said to have coloured Rādhā's face because he was dark and she was fair.

Where is the Kṛṣṇa form of Holi most famously kept?

Barsana, Nandgaon and Vrindavan celebrate Holi across several days. Women of Barsana drive the men off with sticks in the lath mar Holi.

Eduqas A-Level Religious Studies A120QS

Christianity: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsChristianity

Topic overview The birth narratives and the doctrine of the incarnation The resurrection, the resurrected body and the afterlife The Bible as a guide to daily living The biblical canon and theories of inspiration The kerygmata in Acts Crossan and Wright on the historical Jesus

Christianity: Religious Concepts and Religious LifeChristianity

Topic overview God as father and mother, and the suffering of God The Trinity and the filioque controversy Theories of the Atonement Justification by faith and works The community of believers and the role of the Church Key moral principles in Christianity

Christianity: Social and Historical Developments in Religious ThoughtChristianity

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Christianity: Practices That Shape Religious IdentityChristianity

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Islam: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsIslam

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Islam: Religious Concepts and Religious LifeIslam

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Islam: Social and Historical Developments in Religious ThoughtIslam

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Islam: Practices That Shape Religious IdentityIslam

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Topic overview Abraham and the covenant of circumcision Moses and the covenant of law at Sinai The Torah: authority, study and treatment The Talmud, the Mishnah and the Gemara Midrash, halakhah and aggadah Rashi and Maimonides on scripture

Judaism: Religious Concepts and Religious LifeJudaism

Topic overview The nature and attributes of God Humanity, nefesh and pikuach nefesh The Shema and the purpose of life The Messiah, judgement and olam ha-ba Tefillah, the Amidah and tzedakah The 613 mitzvot and the Ten Sayings

Judaism: Social and Historical Developments in Religious ThoughtJudaism

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Judaism: Practices That Shape Religious IdentityJudaism

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Buddhism: Religious Concepts and Religious LifeBuddhism

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Buddhism: Practices That Shape Religious IdentityBuddhism

Topic overview Going for refuge in the Buddha, dhamma and sangha Samatha, vipassanā, mettā bhāvanā and zazen Dāna and puñña: giving and merit Tibetan practice: mudrā, maṇḍala and mantra The contemporary Mindfulness Movement Socially Engaged Buddhism

Hinduism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsHinduism

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Hinduism: Social and Historical Developments in Religious ThoughtHinduism

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Hinduism: Practices That Shape Religious IdentityHinduism

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Sikhism: Religious Figures and Sacred TextsSikhism

Topic overview Guru Nanak's background and the influences on his teaching Guru Nanak's revelation, teachings and the community at Kartarpur Guru Gobind Singh and the founding of the Khalsa The Guru Granth Sahib as living Guru The Mul Mantar and the Japji Sahib Guru Arjan and the empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Sikhism: Religious Concepts and Religious LifeSikhism

Topic overview The Sikh concept of God: Ik Onkar, nirguna and saguna The soul, the five khands and union with Vahiguru Karma, rebirth, grace and mukti Seva and Sarbat da bhala Kirat Karo, Naam Japo and Vand Chhako Sant Sipahi and Dharam Yudh

Sikhism: Social and Historical Developments in Religious ThoughtSikhism

Topic overview Khalistan, persecution and the politics of the Punjab Equality of men and women in Sikhism Sikh attitudes to other faiths and interfaith dialogue Sikhism, science and secularisation Origins and development of the Sikh community in Britain Miri and piri, the kirpan and defending the oppressed

Sikhism: Practices That Shape Religious IdentitySikhism

Topic overview The gurdwara, langar and Sikh worship Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas Vaisakhi and the birth of the Khalsa The Rahit Maryada and the rahit-namas Naam Japo, the names of God and the stages of liberation Sikh bioethics: infertility and assisted reproduction

Arguments for the Existence of God: Inductive

Topic overview Inductive proofs and Aquinas's first three ways The Kalam cosmological argument and William Lane Craig Design arguments: Aquinas, Paley and Tennant Hume's challenges and scientific alternatives

Arguments for the Existence of God: Deductive

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The Problem of Evil and Suffering

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Religious Belief as a Product of the Human Mind

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Religious Experience

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Religious Language

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Ethical Thought

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Teleological Ethics

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Determinism

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Free Will

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Hinduism: Practices That Shape Religious Identity

Holi: Holika, Prahlada and the play of Krishna

3 things to know
Component 1

Overview

Holikā dahan, done with young children at the Holi fire and thrown at Holi.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

When does Holi fall, whose story does it tell, and what happens on the night before the colours?

Key term

When is Holi celebrated?

Key term

Tell the story of Holikā and Prahlāda.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
When is Holi celebrated?
Model answer
Holi falls on the full moon of the month of Phālguna, in February or March. The festival marks the arrival of spring.
2
Tell the story of Holikā and Prahlāda.
Model answer
Prahlāda went on worshipping Viṣṇu although his father Hiraṇyakaśipu demanded worship for himself. Holikā, the king's sister, carried the boy into a fire and burnt while Prahlāda survived.
3
What is Holikā dahan?
Model answer
Holikā dahan is the bonfire lit on the night before the colours are thrown. Effigies of Holikā are burnt on it in many regions.
4
What does the Holikā story teach?
Model answer
Devotion to God protects the devotee even against a powerful king. Good overcomes evil, and arrogance destroys itself.
5
What second story is attached to Holi?
Model answer
Braj tradition links Holi to the play of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā with coloured powder. Kṛṣṇa is said to have coloured Rādhā's face because he was dark and she was fair.
6
Where is the Kṛṣṇa form of Holi most famously kept?
Model answer
Barsana, Nandgaon and Vrindavan celebrate Holi across several days. Women of Barsana drive the men off with sticks in the lath mar Holi.

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