Radha Krishna Holi

The Legend of Radha-Krishna

The Legend

Young Krishna is known to be very playful and mischievous. The story goes that as a child, Krishna was extremely jealous of Radha's fair complexion since he himself was very dark.

One day, Krishna complained to his mother Yashoda about the injustice of nature which made Radha so fair and he so dark. To pacify the crying young Krishna, the doting mother asked him to go and colour Radha's face in whichever colour he wanted.

In a mischievous mood, naughty Krishna heeded the advice of mother Yashoda and applied colour on her beloved Radha's face; Making her one like himself.

Well, there is also a legend to explain Krishna's dark complexion. It so happened that once a demon attempted to kill infant Krishna by giving him poisoned milk. Because of which Krishna turned blue. But Krishna did not die and the demon shriveled up into ashes.

The beautiful scene of Krishna's prank in which he played colour with Radha and other gopis has been made alive in myriad forms in a number of paintings and murals.

The Celebrations

Somehow, the lovable prank of Krishna where he applied colour on Radha and other gopis using water jets called pichkaris gained acceptance and popularity. So much so that it evolved as a tradition and later, a full-fledged festival. Till date, use of colours and pichkaris is rampant in Holi. Lovers long to apply colour on their beloveds face and express their affection for each other.

This legend is wonderfully brought alive each year all over India, particularly in Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana and Nandgaon-the places associated with Krishna and Radha.
In fact, the entire country gets drenched in the colour waters when it is time for Holi and celebrate the immortal love of Krishna and Radha.

"The first and most popular legend associated with 'Holi' is the well known story of 'Vaishnava' theology, where 'Hiranyakashyap', the king of demons had a Vishnu devotee son 'Prahlad'. He tried to wane away his son from Vishnu. But when it failed, he ordered young 'Prahlad' to sit on a pyre in his sister Holika's lap. 'Holika' had a shawl which prevented the fire from harming her," said the astrologer.

He went on to add that Prahlad happily sat on his sister's lap but as the flames grew, the shawl flew from 'Holika' to 'Prahlad'. From that day on, the burning of 'Holika' is celebrated as Holi.
While, elaborating the second most important legend associated with Holi, Prashant Mishra, an expert in mythology, said that the 'Barsana ki Holi' is observed to celebrate Radha's divine love for Krishna an important reason for 'Holi' celebrations.
It is believed that Lord Krishna was sad over his dark complexion and wondered why 'Radha' was so fair. One day, his mother Yashoda playfully suggested that he can smear colour on Radha's face and change her complexion to any colour he wanted. Fascinated by the idea, Krishna proceeded to do so and thus, introduced the festival of colours.
"Lord Krishna is believed to have popularised the festival by playing pranks on the 'gopis'. The Holi of Braj, Barsana, Mathura and Virandavan is famous all over the world for its intimate connection with the divine deities and their love," added Mishra further.
Another Holi legend, which is popular in Southern India is the fable which revolves around Lord Shiva and 'Kamadeva'. Kaamdeva was once cursed by Lord Shiva and was turned into ashes by the force of an angry Shiva's third eye. On the tearful requests of Kama's wife Rati, the Lord restored him, but only as a mental image, representing true love rather than physical lust. The Holi bonfire is believed to celebrate this event, where people worship the bonfire to keep evils away from them.