Holika Dahan Puja Vidhi: Samagri, Parikrama and Muhurat

Holika Dahan puja is the worship of the Holika pyre on the evening of Phalguna Purnima, followed by lighting it in the muhurat and roasting the new grain in its flames. In short: build the pyre over the preceding days, gather in the evening, worship it with water, roli, rice, flowers and gulal, wind raw thread round it in parikrama, light it once Bhadra is over, and keep everyone at a safe distance.

The muhurat for your city, with the table that shows when Bhadra ends, is on the Holika Dahan date page; the day of colours that follows is on the Holi page. No times are written here, because they change by city and by year.

Samagri: what to keep ready

For the pyre (gathered by the lane or village):

• Dry wood, fallen branches and twigs
• Upale (dried cow-dung cakes), and in many homes badkulle or gulariya, small cow-dung rings made by the children and strung into garlands
• A green stick or a sapling of the castor or another plant set in the centre, in some places, to stand for Prahlad

For the family thali:

• A lota of water
• Roli, haldi, akshat, flowers and gulal
• Kachcha sut (raw cotton thread), a whole skein
• A coconut, batashe or sweets, and whole moong or gram
• Ears of new wheat and barley, or green gram on the stalk, to roast
• A ghee lamp and incense
• In some homes, the ubtan (gram-flour paste) rubbed on the family's bodies during the day, kept to be added to the fire

The puja, step by step

1. Building the pyre. In many towns the place is marked and a stick set up on the day Holashtak begins, eight days before the full moon, and the pyre grows a little each day. On the evening of the Purnima, check that it stands on open ground, away from wires, roofs, vehicles and stacked straw.
2. The day's preparation. Many families rub ubtan on the children and themselves during the day and keep the peeled-off paste for the fire. The thali is made ready before sunset.
3. Gather and face the pyre. The families of the lane come together in the evening. Sit or stand facing east or north before the pyre, and remember Ganesh with a flower and a pinch of rice.
4. Worship the Holika. Sprinkle water on the pyre. Offer roli, haldi, akshat, flowers, gulal, moong and batashe. Place the coconut, and the garlands of badkulle, at its base. Many remember Prahlad and Narasimha here, with a short prayer in their own words.
5. The thread and the parikrama. Hold the end of the raw thread, and walk around the pyre clockwise, letting the thread wind round it, three times or seven times as your family does. Pour water from the lota in a thin stream as you complete the parikrama.
6. Hear the katha. While the families wait for the muhurat, an elder tells the Holika Dahan katha of Prahlad and Holika.
7. Lighting the fire. In the muhurat, once Bhadra is over, the pyre is lit, often by an elder or a priest, from a lamp or a flame brought from a home. In some villages the green stick in the middle is pulled out as the fire takes, remembering Prahlad's escape.
8. Roasting the new grain. Hold the ears of wheat and barley, or the green gram, on a long stick near the edge of the fire, roast them lightly and share them as prasad. Add the ubtan to the fire if that is your custom.
9. Parikrama of the fire. Many families walk around the burning fire once more, keeping well back, and pray for the household.
10. Ash and the morning. Some families take a little cooled ash home the next morning and apply a tilak of it, a custom many keep for protection. The day after is Holi, the day of colours.

Checking the time

Three things fix the muhurat: the Purnima tithi, the evening after sunset (pradosh), and Bhadra. The tradition avoids lighting the fire while Bhadra runs; when Bhadra stretches late into the night, the rules allow its tail portion or another window, and the date page sets out which one applies in your city. Look up the city table on the Holika Dahan date page; the muhurat page and the choghadiya help with the rest of the day's plans.

Fire safety

• Build the pyre on open ground, well away from houses, power lines, parked vehicles, gas cylinders and dry straw.
• Do not use plastic, tyres, rubber or painted wood; the smoke is harmful.
• Keep children and older people back from the flames, and keep loose dupattas, saris and long hair tied when roasting grain or doing parikrama.
• Keep buckets of water or sand nearby, and stay until the fire has died down.
• Do not throw firecrackers or anything into the fire beyond the offerings.

Customs families keep

These are customs, not conditions. Your family's way comes first.

• During Holashtak, the eight days before the full moon, many families do not hold weddings, griha pravesh or other auspicious ceremonies.
• A newly married bride in some families does not watch her in-laws' Holika burn in her first year, and spends Holi at her parents' home.
• Families in the countryside take the first roasted ears of the new crop as a blessing on the harvest.
• Many keep a fast until the puja on Phalguna Purnima; those who are pregnant, unwell or older eat as their doctor advises.

Regional ways

• Braj (Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana): Holi lasts many days, with Lathmar Holi at Barsana and Nandgaon, and at Phalen village a priest is traditionally said to walk through the Holika's embers.
• Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: the Holika burns at crossroads in every mohalla, and phag songs are sung around it; in Bihar the fire is called Sammat in some areas.
• Rajasthan and Gujarat: women carry thalis to the community Holika and wind thread with the whole lane; in Gujarat dates, popped jowar (dhani) and coconut are offered and shared.
• Maharashtra and Goa: Holi or Shimga, with the Holi pyre, puran poli as the offering, and Rang Panchami five days later.
• South India: Kama Dahanam bonfires on the same full moon, remembering Shiva and Kamadeva.

After the puja

Share the roasted grain and sweets. The day of colours is described on the Holi page. About a week later comes Sheetala Ashtami, and the great Shiva night of the season is Maha Shivratri.