Holi 2023: Date, time, significance and more about the festival

Holi is standing right outside the door and it's time to get drenched in the colour of festivities. Being one of the biggest festivals of India, Holi celebrations kickstart a week before the actual date of the big day. Devotees celebrate the auspicious festival for two days (Holika Dahan and Holi), while in some parts of India, the celebrations go on for a week. 

People, on this day, put colours on each other as a symbol of happiness and celebration as this festival marks the victory of good over evil. Parallelly, Holi is also observed to welcome a good spring harvest season. So, here we are with some information on the festival of colours you need to know

Holi 2023: Date and time

Holi 2023 is falling on March 8, while Holika Dahan will be celebrated a day before which is March 7. The shubh mahurat for the latter is expected to be between 06:24 pm to 08:51 pm on March 7. Meanwhile, the time for Bhadra Punchha will begin at 12:43 am and last till 02:01 am. On the other hand, Bhadra Mukha mahurat will commence from 02:01 am to 04:11 am.

Holi 2023: Significance

Apart from being a harvest festival, Holi marks the celebration of love between Lord Krishna and Goddess Radha, as per Hindu scriptures. According to a legend, one day Lord Krishna went to his mother Yashoda and asked why was he so dark while Radha was faired skinned.

To this, Maa Yashoda playfully suggested colouring Radha's face with gulaal and this will remove all the differences. Later on, this became a ritual on Holi among locals and then passed on to generations. 

Holi 2023: Celebration

Apart from playing with colours, the festival of Holi is celebrated in many ways. A number of Indian sweets and savouries are prepared at home, people meet and greet one another by visiting the homes of family and friends. In different parts of India, multiple other traditions are followed to mark the festival. For example, Lath maar Holi, Phoolon ki Holi and more.