Holika Dahan

Culture of origin: Hindu · Cultural

Holiday sources: Hinduism

On the night before Holi a bonfire is lit to recall the burning of Holika, sister of the demon king Hiranyakashipu: she had a boon making her immune to fire and tried to kill her nephew Prahlada, a devotee of Vishnu, by holding him on her lap in a fire, but she was burnt and he was saved. Grains from the new harvest are thrown into the fire. Drik Panchang sets it after sunset (pradosh) while the full moon prevails, and never in the inauspicious Bhadra Mukha, so it is sometimes lit late at night, and almanacs can differ by a day.