Bonfire : Holika Dahan

Heloo readers...

In this blog I would like to talk about famous and also my favourite festival Bonfire(Holika Dahan). It is favourite festival of everyone including me. This festival was celebrated in various ways in many other countries. So let's talking about this festival in detail:-

Bornfire (होलिका दहन):-

Holi is spread out over two days. On the first day, bonfire is created and on the second day, holi is played with colors and water. In s III lome places, it is played for five days, the fifth day is called Ranga Panchami. Holi bonfire is known as Holika Dahan also Kamudu pyre is celebrated by burning Holika, the devil. For many traditions in Hinduism, Holi celebrates the death of Holika in order to save Prahlad, and thus Holi gets its name. In olden days, people use to contribute a piece of wood or two for Holika bonfire.

If we talk about others country's celebration of bornfire we find that except india thare are lot's of countries which celebrate this festival in their own myth and rituals. There are countries like....

1)india:-

In India, particularly in Punjab, people gather around a bonfire and eat peanuts and sweets during the festival of Lohri to celebrate the winter solstice which occurred during the Indian month of Magh. People have bonfires on communal land. If there has been a recent wedding or a new born in the family, people will have a bonfire outside their house to celebrate this event.In Assam in the northeastern part of India, a harvest festival called Bhogali Bihu is celebrated to mark the end of the harvest season in mid-January. In southern parts of India, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, the Bhogi festival is celebrated on the last day of 'Maarkali', which is also the first day of the farmer festival Pongal. Traditionally a bonfire on the day of Holi marks the symbolic annihilation of Holika the demoness as described above.

 2)Alpine and Central Europe:-

Bonfire traditions of early spring, lit on the Sunday following Ash Wednesday (Funkensonntag), are widespread throughout the Alemannic German speaking regions of Europe and in parts of France. There are also "Sonnwendfeuer" (solstice fires) ignited on the evening of 21 June.

(3)Australia:-In Australia, bonfires are rarely allowed in the warmer months due to fire danger. Legislation about bonfires varies between states, metropolitan and rural regions, local government areas, and property types. In the state of Queensland, the rural town of Killarney hosts an annual Bonfire night for the greater community; proceeds support the town's aged care facilities.

4)Canada:-

In Canada this is one of the times when small rural communities come together. In the province of Quebec, many communities light up bonfires on June 24 to celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

5)France:-

In France, the bonfire celebrates Jean le Baptiste during the Fête de la Saint-Jean (literally "feast of St John"), first Saturday after the solstice, about 24 June. Like the other countries, it was a pagan celebration of the solstice, or midsummer, but Christianisation transformed it into a Catholic celebration.

6)Iran:-

Iran was very differently celebrated this festival.Chaharshanbe Suri is a fire jumping festival celebrated by Persian people, Kurdish people and some other people in the world. The event takes place on the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz.

7)Iraq:-In Iraq bonfires lit to celebrate the Feast of the Cross by the Assyrian Christians. Beside the bonfire every household hang traditionally a lighted fire in the roof of their house.

8)Ireland:-Throughout Ireland, bonfires are lit on the night of 31 October to celebrate Halloween[6] or Samhain. Bonfires are also held on 30 April, particularly in Limerick to celebrate the festival of Bealtaine and on St. John's eve, 23 June, to celebrate Midsummer's eve, particularly in County Cork where it is also known as 'Bonna Night'.

9)Israel:-on the eve of Lag BaOmer, bonfires are lit on to commemorate the Mishnaic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who according to tradition died on Lag BaOmer. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is accredited with having composed the Kabalistic work The Zohar (literally "The Shining" - hence the custom of lighting fire to commemorate him). 

10)Italy:-In Northeast Italy, the celebration Panevin (in English "bread and wine"), Foghera and Pignarûl is held in the evening of Epiphany's eve (5 and 6 January). A straw witch dressed with old clothes, is placed on a bonfire and burned to ash. 

11)Japan:-Every 16 August, the ancient city of Kyoto holds the Gozan no Okuribi, a Buddhist bonfire based spectacle, which marks the end of the *O-Bon season.

12)Luxembourg:-The Luxembourgish town of Remich annually holds a three-day-long celebration for Carnival (called Fuesend Karneval in Luxembourgish. The celebration of the Remich Fuesend Karneval celebrations concludes with the Buergbrennen, a bonfire that marks the end of winter.

13)Nepal:-Bonfire in Nepal is taken almost synonymous with camp-fire. During winter months its quite common to have a bonfire in hotels, resorts, residential area as well as private properties

14)Nordic Countries:-As many other traditions in Scandinavia, St. Hans is believed to have a pagan origin, the celebration of mid summer's eve. In Sweden Walpurgis Night is celebrated on 30 April which includes the burning of a bonfire. In Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Midsummer Eve is celebrated with large bonfires.

15)Poland:-

In Poland, bonfires are traditionally and still enthusiastic burned during Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Pentecost day and Saint John Night as Sobótki, on 23/24 June.

16)Lithuania:-In Lithuania bonfires lit to celebrate St John's Eve (aka: Rasos (Dew Holiday) during midsummer festival . Bonfires may be lit to keep witches and evil spirit away.

17)Romania:-

In Romania, in Argeș County, a bonfire is lit on the night of 25 October every year, as a tradition said to be done since the Dacians. It consists in burning of a tall tree, which resembles the body of a god. It is usually done on a high peak, in order to be seen from far away.

18)Slavic Europe:-In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, bonfires are traditionally lit on the evening before 1 May, commemorating Labour Day[citation needed] . Bonfires are also being built on the eve of the Christian holiday Easter on so called Holy Saturday and are lit next day early in the morning. 

19)Turkey:-In Turkey bonfires lit on Kakava believed to be the awakening day of nature at the beginning of spring. Celebrated by the Romani people in Turkey, on the night of 5-6 May.

20)United Kingdom:-In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries, bonfires are lit on Guy Fawkes Night  a yearly celebration held on the evening of 5 November to mark the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to destroy the House of Lords in London.

21)Scotland:-The annual rock and dance music Wickerman Festival takes place in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. Its main feature is the burning of a large wooden effigy on the last night.

22)United States:-In New England, on the night before the Fourth of July, towns competed to build towering pyramids, assembled from hogsheads, barrels and casks. They were lit at nightfall, to usher in the celebratio.

       In this we see that all countries have their own reasons to celebrate bornfire. But one thing is notable that all have their rituals and myths behind  to celebrate this festival. All countries celebrate this bornfire as per their own myths which they believed.

One common reason that all countries believed that all Eve and dark sides are get away from them.

Rituals:-

In many cultures, people practice rituals related to fire. These rituals are often based on myths and legends about fire or fire gods. In ancient Rome, a sacred flame associated with the goddess Vesta represented national well-being. Women called the Vestal Virgins had the holy duty of keeping that flame alive.

Fire consumes, warms, and illuminates, but can also bring pain and death; thus, its symbolic meaning varies wildly, depending upon the context of its use. Can be spiritual enlightenment, sexuality - "light my fire" and fertility. ... Fire can also be seen as a force of purification (Cooper, 1978). 

In this version of the myth, the use of fire was already known to humans, but withdrawn by Zeus. Prometheus stole fire back from Zeus in a fennel stalk and restored it to humanity (565–566). This further enraged Zeus, who sent the first woman to live with humanity (Pandora, not explicitly mentioned.

 If we talk about an indian myth behind the bornfire so is that:-

The celebration of Holi is associated with the King, Hiranyakashipu. In the pre-Christian era, there lived a evil king named Hiranyakashipu in ancient India. He wanted to avenge the death of his brother who was killed by Lord Vishnu , one of the supreme trio, who preserves life and death in the Universe.Holika Dahan also Kamudu pyre is celebrated by burning Holika, an asura. For many traditions in Hinduism, Holi celebrates the killing of Holika in order to save Prahlad, a devotee of God Vishnu and thus Holi gets its name. In olden days, people used to contribute a piece of wood or two for the Holika bonfire, and this represents Holika being consumed by the fire in which she tried to kill her nephew Prahlad. A similar holiday is Holi where people get to gather and often repair broken relationships.

Holika (होलिका) was a demoness in Hindu Vedic scriptures, who was burnt to death with help of God Vishnu. She was the sister of King Hiranyakashipu and aunt of Prahlad.

The story of Holika dahan (Holika’s death) signifies the triumph of good over evil. Holika is associated with the annual bonfire on the night before Holi, the Hindu festival of colors.

I belive in only one story which is the story of holika. I belive in this myth only.

Words :- 1685

When God is Traveller-by Arundhathi Subramaniam

Hello readers...in this blog i would like to talk about a one poem "When God Is Traveller by Arundhathi Subramaniam.

First it is considere to know about poet.

About poet:-

Arundhathi Subramaniam is an award-winning poet and writer on spirituality and culture. Winner of the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry in 2015, the Raza Award for Poetry and the International Piero Bigongiari Prize, she mostly lives in Bombay (a city she is perennially on the verge of leaving). She has published two books of poetry in Britain with Bloodaxe, Where I Live: New & Selected Poems (2009), which combines selections from her first two Indian collections, On Cleaning Bookshelves and Where I Live, with new work, and When God Is a Traveller (2014), a Poetry Book Society Choice which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Prize at the Jaipur Literary Festival, and was awarded the International Piero Bigongiari Prize in Italy. Her latest collection, Love Without a Story, was published by Bloodaxe in 2020. She has also written The Book of Buddha (Penguin, 2005) and Sadhguru: In 2006 she appeared at London’s Poetry International festival and gave readings throughout Britain on a tour organised by the Poetry Society. She also took part in the T.S. Eliot Prize reading at London’s Southbank Centre in January 2015.

About poem:-  This is very significant poem by Arundhathi Subramaniam.Reading a poem is fine. But, understanding and appreciating a poem requires some effort. "When God is a Traveller" is a collection of poems from one of the leading contemporary poets of our time.She wields the English language with such a lyrical Indian touch.This is one of the best collections of contemporary Indian poetry.

These are poems of wonder and precarious elation, about learning to embrace the seemingly disparate landscapes of hermitage and court, the seemingly diverse addresses of mystery and clarity, disruption and stillness - all the roadblocks and rewards on the long dangerous route to recovering what it is to be alive.

In this poem we find questions about morality and integrity that many poets simply refuse to take on. We find that her poems wander, dig and fall; they come to terms with unsettlement, uncertainty, finiteness and fallibility; they explore intersections between the sacred and the sensual; and search for ways to step in and out of stories, cycles and frames. These are poems of wonder and precarious elation, and all the roadblocks and rewards on the long dangerous route to recovering what it is to be alive and human.

Themes in poem:-

In this poem we saw that poet used many themes.Wandering, digging, falling, coming to terms with unsettlement and uncertainty, finiteness and fallibility, exploring intersections between the sacred and the sensual, searching for ways to step in and out of stories, cycles and frames - these are some of the recurrent themes. It lays bare the hidden realities of human existence, and explores passion, desire and live in brilliant new ways. The pieces brim with a hidden strand of spirituality that slowly reveals itself on a close reading.'When God is a Traveller', Subramaniam weaves metaphors, metaphors that are distinctly hers, into language that is simultaneously fluid and simple. Everydayness is woven as a metaphor rife with allusions to the deeper meanings of life. At first glance, the poems from this collection come across as beautiful but not oh-my-god-this-blew-my-mind-away. 

This poem is differs widely in terms of the figures of the Hindu pantheon represented, that is, the ones within the text are not really the most popular of the Hindu gods. Moreover, what Subramaniam does is that she uses these figures but challenges the canonical religious stories through her representations, as can be observed in the poem ‘Benaras’, an underappreciated piece in my opinion. She tries to highlight the personal side of one’s religious beliefs, for instance in the poem ‘How Some Hindus Find Their Personal Gods’.

One beautiful thing she used in this poem is that imagery. Even when the meaning of the poems eludes the reader, the meaning-making processes remain accessible through the vivid images constructed, which interact with each other to produce meaning. In this text, the meaning is created through the words as well as through the imagery. This gives it a subliminal quality of sorts.

What poet says through this poem?

Poet not talk about one particular religion.All in all, a delightful read. The allusions of Hinduism do leave scope for criticism. However, I think the Hinduism in the text alludes to the Bhakti tradition, a countercultural movement to the canonical tradition. But oh, the words, the language, the imagery- they entrapped me, an unsuspecting reader and I have zero regrets.

These poems explore various ambivalences - around human intimacy with its bottlenecks and surprises, life in a Third World megapolis, myth, the politics of culture and gender, and the persistent trope of the existential journey.

Though the poems in When God is a Traveller frequently dwell upon the minute details of everyday life, they also see in those details, hints of a Godhead, an uber-reality. Charmingly elusive avatars of Muruga, Krishna and other divinities appear, composed of the elements of our contemporary reality and occasionally, denied by it. This is also a frank volume of middle age.When God is a Traveller is studded with gems of language. It is not necessary that all the gems will shine at once — or at all. Some may never shine for you (could they be blemished?) Others will reveal themselves in modesty, or in time. But you're likely to find at least one or two that go off like an explosion: an explosion that may help launch you,like.

Many of the old divides blasted away, and the poems in this volume reflect that.

Conclusion:-

In sum up we can say that This is one of the best collections of contemporary Indian poetry. sense of wonder and striking contrasts pervade the Indian poet’s fourth collection. The sacred meets the everyday, cerebral wordplay delivers full-blooded emotion.

Words:-1013