🎨 Holi (Holika Dahan & Dhulandi) 2027

Holika Dahan on the night of Phalguna Purnima, the Holi of colours the next day — the Bhadra-free Pradosh muhurat for the bonfire, the new crop's ears, gujiya and gulal.

Holi is a two-day festival — Holika Dahan (Chhoti Holi) on the evening of Phalguna Purnima and the Holi of colours (Dhulandi/Dhulendi) the next day on Chaitra Krishna Pratipada. The 40-day Phaag that began on Vasant Panchami ends here; it celebrates the victory of devotion over adharma (Prahlad-Holika) and the new harvest (roasting the ears of wheat and barley).

Women of the house perform the Holi puja on the day of the bonfire — garlands of cow-dung badkulle/gulri, raw thread, fresh ears of grain, gujiya as bhog — and circle the fire; colours the next day, gujiya-kanji-thandai and visiting from home to home. Below are this year's two dates, the Bhadra-free bonfire muhurat, vidhi, samagri, katha, dishes and regional customs.

Significance — why this vrat

The rule of Holika Dahan: in Pradosh Kaal, in the Purnima tithi and at a **Bhadra-free** time — lighting the fire during Bhadra (Vishti karana) is forbidden; if Bhadra is present, after it (or in the Bhadra tail). This is why the muhurat differs every year — the Pradosh time is given above; see the Bhadra time on your city's panchang page.

Holashtak: the eight days before Holi (Phalguna Shukla Ashtami to Purnima) — no auspicious works, no weddings or griha pravesh; after Holi the muhurats reopen until Chaitra Navratri.

The new crop: roasting green ears of wheat, barley and chana in the bonfire (hola) and eating and bringing them home as prasad — one root of the name 'Holi'; bringing home the bonfire's ash/fire to light the hearth is auspicious. Evil (Holika) burnt, devotion (Prahlad) survived — that is the spirit.

Puja vidhi (step by step)

This is the household vidhi — the Holi puja and bhog in the day, the bonfire and circumambulation in Pradosh after checking Bhadra; colours the next day.

1. Morning of Holika Dahan: make badkulle/gulri (small holed cakes of cow dung), dry them and string them into garlands — 4-5 garlands (in the name of the ancestors, Hanuman, Sheetla, the family); go to the neighbourhood Holi (a pile of wood and dung cakes with the Holika-Prahlad pole in the centre) or make a small Holi in your own courtyard.
2. The Holi puja in the day/before evening: roli, akshat and flowers on the pole/pile, circle it winding raw thread (mauli) 3 or 7 times, offer a lota of water, the badkulle garlands, green ears of wheat and barley, coconut, gujiya and sweets, gulal; 'Om Holikayai Namah', remembrance of Prahlad and Narasimha — 'Asrikpabhayasantrastaih krita tvam Holi balishaih…'.
3. The bonfire (Pradosh Kaal, Bhadra-free — Pradosh time above; Bhadra on the panchang page): the neighbourhood elders/priest light it; 3/5/7 rounds with the family, a stream of water, badkulle, ears of grain and coconut into the fire; roast ears of wheat, barley and chana (hola) in the fire and share.
4. On returning bring a little of the bonfire's fire/ash home — auspicious for a new hearth/lamp; a tilak of the ash (protection from the evil eye); Holi songs and Phaag at night, thandai.
5. Dhulandi (next day): in the morning a tilak of gulal for the elders and touching their feet, then colours; gujiya, kanji, dahi-bade; gulal for Thakur ji/Banke Bihari; after noon wash off the colours, new clothes, meeting and greeting in the evening (Holi Milan).
6. Women: the morning after the bonfire sprinkle its ash at the door (purification), a cool bhog for Sheetla Mata (in many regions Sheetla Ashtami/Basoda follows Holi); in Braj the Lathmar and flower Holis fall in the week before.
7. The badkulle garland and charity in the ancestors' name: grain and cloth donation on Holika Dahan, the first share of the new crop to the gods, the ancestors and the cow.
8. Chaitra begins the next day — in places Rang Panchami 5 days after Holi (Maharashtra-MP) and Sheetla Ashtami 8 days after.

Puja samagri checklist

Cow-dung badkulle and green ears of wheat and barley are the special items of the bonfire day; colours and gujiya the next day.

• Cow dung (garlands of badkulle/gulri), raw thread/mauli
• Roli, akshat, turmeric, flowers, gulal, a lota of water
• Green ears of wheat, barley and chana (hola), coconut, betel nut
• Gujiya/sweets (bhog), jaggery, raw rice
• Wood and dung cakes (the neighbourhood Holi), the Holika-Prahlad pole/flag
• Dhulandi: herbal gulal and colours, pichkari, old clothes; thandai, gujiya, kanji-bade, dahi-bade, papad
• Gulal and new clothes for Thakur ji; a gulal thali for the elders
• A small pot to keep the ash (to bring home)

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Vrat katha (the story)

The demon king Hiranyakashipu had a boon that neither man nor beast could kill him, neither by day nor by night, neither inside the house nor outside, neither by a weapon held nor thrown. In his pride he ordered that he alone be worshipped, but his son Prahlad was a devotee of Vishnu. The father had Prahlad thrown from a cliff, trampled by an elephant, given poison — the devotee survived every time.

Hiranyakashipu's sister Holika had a boon that fire would not burn her. She sat on a pyre with Prahlad in her lap — but the devotee kept chanting 'Narayana, Narayana'; the boon was misused, Holika burnt and Prahlad walked out. That night of Phalguna Purnima — Holika Dahan: evil burnt, devotion survived. Then Narasimha emerged from a pillar and, at dusk, on the threshold, on his lap, with his nails, killed Hiranyakashipu.

The second story — Shiva burnt Kamadeva with his third eye (after Vasant Panchami); at Rati's lament Kamadeva was revived on the day of Holi in the form of 'Ananga' — hence Holi is the festival of the colours of love; the Holi of Radha and Krishna in Braj — when Krishna complained of being dark, at mother Yashoda's suggestion he coloured Radha's face — the root of the Holi of colours.

Gujiya, kanji, thandai — the Holi kitchen

Holi gujiya (filled with khoya and dry fruits, fried in ghee) is made a week ahead; kanji-bade (urad dumplings in mustard water, 3-4 days ahead), dahi-bade, papad, namkeen, thandai — bhog on the bonfire evening, for guests on Dhulandi.

• Gujiya (20): 2 cups maida + 4 tbsp ghee; filling — 200 g khoya roasted, 100 g powdered sugar, dry fruits, coconut, cardamom; fill in the mould and fry golden in ghee on a low flame
• Kanji-bade: ground mustard, black salt, turmeric and asafoetida in water — 3-4 days in the sun; add small urad dumplings for a day
• Thandai (almond-fennel-poppy-black pepper-rose-milk), dahi-bade, potato chips, namakpare, shakkarpare, malpua
• Hola: ears of wheat, barley and chana roasted in the bonfire — the first prasad; pua-poori-kadhi and malpua in Bihar-Purvanchal; kanji-gujiya-pinni in Punjab; puran poli with katachi amti in Maharashtra; dhani (roasted grain), dates and gujiya in Gujarat; malpua and kheer of the Dol Yatra in Bengal
• Sheetla bhog (Basoda, 7-8 days after Holi): cool food cooked a day earlier — sweet rice, poori, curd, gulgule

Regional customs

From the Lathmar of Braj to the Dol Yatra of Bengal — one Purnima, a hundred colours.

Do's and don'ts

Frequently asked questions

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Also read: Maha Shivratri (15 days earlier) · Sheetla Ashtami / Basoda (after Holi) · Chaitra Navratri / Gudi Padwa · Bhadra time (your city's panchang)

⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; the custom of your family and neighbourhood comes first. Fix the exact bonfire muhurat after checking Bhadra; safety with colours and fire comes first.

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