🎨 Holi (Holika Dahan & Dhulandi) 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.
How to do Holi (Holika Dahan & Dhulandi) — the steps
- 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.
- 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…'.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
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
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Light the bonfire in Pradosh Kaal, avoiding Bhadra — see the Bhadra time on your city's panchang page
- Raw thread, badkulle, fresh ears of grain and coconut in the Holi puja; circle the fire with the family
- Gulal tilak for the elders first, touching their feet; herbal/natural colours
- Bring the roasted ears (hola) and the ash home — auspicious
- Postpone auspicious works during Holashtak; muhurats after Holi
❌ Don't
- Holika Dahan during Bhadra — forbidden; nor very late at night after Pradosh
- No chemical/permanent colours, balloons or forcing colour on anyone; no colour in the eyes or mouth
- No excess of bhang or alcohol, no driving intoxicated — the biggest cause of Holi accidents
- Do not burn plastic, tyres or rubber in the bonfire; keep children away from the fire
- No colour on animals (dogs, cows)
Vrat katha
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 … Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Holi in {Y} — the bonfire and the colours?
Both dates are above — Holika Dahan on the evening of Phalguna Purnima (Pradosh Kaal, time above) and the Holi of colours/Dhulandi the next day; from panchang calculations.
How is the correct Holika Dahan muhurat decided?
The Purnima tithi + Pradosh Kaal (~2 hours 24 minutes from sunset) + a Bhadra-free time — all three together. If Bhadra falls in Pradosh, after it ends (or in the Bhadra tail); if the Purnima does not last till Pradosh the next day, that same night. The exact Bhadra time is on the panchang page (your city).
What is Holashtak?
The eight days before Holi (Phalguna Shukla Ashtami to Purnima) — auspicious works like weddings, griha pravesh and mundan are not done in them; they resume after Holi.
What are badkulle/gulri?
Small dried cakes of cow dung with a hole, strung on thread into garlands — in the name of the ancestors, Hanuman ji, Sheetla Mata, the household — and offered in the Holika fire; a custom of the women of North India.
What is Rang Panchami?
The fifth day after Holi (Chaitra Krishna Panchami) is the main colour day in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh — the 'Gair' of Indore-Ujjain, the Rangpanchami of Mumbai-Pune; in Braj the Phaag runs till this day.
What is Sheetla Ashtami/Basoda after Holi?
Chaitra Krishna Ashtami (or Saptami), 7-8 days after Holi — offering cool food cooked a day earlier to Sheetla Mata and not lighting the hearth that day; a vrat for protecting children from smallpox (a separate page).
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