Masaan Holi

Masaan Holi is a special two-day event in Varanasi. During this celebration, devotees put ashes from funeral fires and a pink powder (gulal) on each other. This event is also seen as a way to celebrate death.

• Many people join a big parade to the riverbank or ghat. They dance, sing, and chant “Har-Har Mahadev” as the air fills with ashes and pink powder.
• Origin: The ritual of Masan Holi Varanasi is believed to celebrate the Holika-Prahalad mythological event with the pyre ashes.
• Significance:
  • The use of pyre ashes in Masan Holi Varanasi symbolises the shortness of life and the cyclical nature of a person’s existence in this materialistic world.
  • It is believed that the ashes used in Masan Holi possess purifying properties that cleanse the body, mind, and soul of impurities.
  • By smearing each other with ash during Holi, people seek spiritual rejuvenation and internal purification.