Reach out to random person on street and throw a bucket of cold water on them, blast them with happiness,chuck handfuls of coloured powder on them. It's not a formula to start a fight. In fact, it's the exact opposite!
That's how holi is celebrated in Nepal . It is one of the most important festival in Hindu calendar and marks the start of Spring festival and also celebrated as victory of good over bad .
Due to outdoor oriented nature of this festival and splashing of colors and water usually becomes difficult to celebrate this festival outside of Hindu countries especially in UK as the weather is still cooler in early spring. Despite of all this and with surprising support of warm Spring weather , Nepali Children of Prarambha Paathshala enjoyed holi festival in Sutton. They put colours on each other and wished happy holi. Members of community provided sweets and snacks for all of the joyful participants .
We at Paathshala not only facilitated the celebration but we also encouraged children to socialise with each other,and enjoy fun activities.Our kids can learn how life greets them in our mother country,and whenever they decide to visit relatives in Nepal,they can also relate by learning more and more about their home country.
The origin of Holi Festival can be traced back to the "Mahabharata", Indian famous epic. According to the legend, King Hiranyakashipu was so arrogant that he didn't allow people to worship Lord Vishnu. However, Prince Prahlada was an ardent devotee of Vishnu and openly opposed his father. This enraged Hiranyakashipu. Since then, the king ordered his sister Holika to burn the prince on the full moon night. Under the blessing of God Vishnu, Prahlada was unscathed while Holika was burned into ashes. When the prince walked out of the fire, people sprinkled him with colorful water to express the praise of goodness and hatred of evil.
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