Marwadi community celebrates ‘Holika Dahan’ on Vizag beach

Women members of Rajasthani Sanskritik Mandal arranged piles of barkula (made of cow dung) on the beach and tied sacred thread to the piles as part of ‘Holika Dahan.’ The Marwadi community will perform pooja called ‘Thandi Holi’ at dawn.

After midnight at around 1.30 a.m., the barkula piles will be lit, and it is called ‘Holika Dahan’ celebrated the night before Holi, commemorating the victory of ‘devotion’ over ‘evil’ through the story of Prahlad and Holika. The demon King Hiranyakashipu tried to kill his son Prahlad, a Vishnu-devotee, by having his sister, Holika—who was immune to fire—sit in a fire with him. Instead, Prahlad was saved by his faith, while Holika burned, symbolising the triumph of good over evil, according to a statement issued by Nirananjan Somani, president, and Suraj Agarwal, secretary of Rajasthani Sanskritik Mandal.