Story of Holi in the words of an Amara Kid:
“I really like the story of Holi because it is the story of a cruel king’s evil sister who got burnt.” (My kids love violence more than I care to admit!)
Once there was a very evil, demon king who had a long name- Hrinyakashpu. Let’s call him ‘H’. He hated God, especially Vishnu- who is a very powerful God and can take whatever form he would like to.
H, the demon king was also very strong and he believed that he was stronger than Vishnu. He asked everyone to worship him instead of Vishnu. But he had a son called Prahlad who would not listen to H. Prahlad wanted to worship only Vishnu and told his father that Vishnu was most powerful. H was very angry with his son and ordered his soldiers to throw Prahlad down a hill. H was also very cruel, you see. But Vishnu saved Prahalad at the last moment.
Then H called his evil sister called Holika. She had been granted a boon that she could go into a fire without being burnt. H told her to bring Prahlad into the fire with her so he could get burnt. Holika was a mean and evil person. She also was very silly! She completely forgot that she could only go into the fire alone, so she got burnt while Vishnu saved Prahlad.
Conclusion: “I think it is really good that Holika got burnt because she was very evil and she tried to burn her own nephew. Does the king die though? Holi the festival is named after Holika because we celebrate the fact that Prahlad, who was good and kind, was saved while Holika the meanie, was burnt. If you are a mean person, you will die too!”
AmaraMom adds: This is why in many families, a fire is burnt the night before Holi to commemorate Holika’s burning and to celebrate the victory of good over evil.
