Talk:Holi

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Contents 1 When is Holi in 2005 ? 2 Re : When is Holi ? 3 Factual Error in the data and details 4 Picture 5 article merger from 16th March 2006 Navi Mumbai riot 6 Similar customs 7 Merge from Dol-Purnima 8 Please fix 9 Why is this article so skewed to what's wrong with Holi? 10 Environmental impacts of Indian festivals 11 removed typo 12 the article doesn't seem to explain *when* Holi actually is 13 Holi date 2009

[edit] When is Holi in 2005 ?

When is Holi in the Gregorian calendar ? For 2005, Dutch Wikipedia says "26 maart"(March 26), while German Wikipedia says "24./25. März" (March 24 ~ March 25), and then English Wikipedia says "over two days around March". Very confusing ..... Can anyone confirm the dates and make a list for the upcoming years, please ? Many thanks. -- PFHLai 06:28, 2005 Mar 25 (UTC)

[edit] Re : When is Holi ?

Holi in 2005 actually started today (March) and will continue until the end of day tomorrow (March 26th). Because the Hindu calendar is lunar, the date will vary from year to year, but is usually around mid-late March.

Yes, I understand why it's a different date in the Gregorian calendar. Now, I am asking when it is this year, 2006. Is it March 14 or 15 ? Can someone familiar with this holiday confirm the dates and put it in the article, please ? Future dates would also help. Thanks. -- PFHLai 16:57, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I have just added the 2006 dates, provided by User:Bhadani. Can someone add the future dates, please ? Thanks. -- PFHLai 17:36, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Why was the mention of bhang removed in this edit? It's an integral part of Holi. Reverted to this one. Whitehat 16:18, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
Guys, the date of Holi in 2008 in incorrect. I advise you double check it.

I just changed the date for Holi in 2008. According to several calendars I have consulted, it falls on Saturday, March 22, not on February 21. If I'm mistaken, please change it back. But I'm pretty sure I'm right. Smalek (talk) 02:31, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Factual Error in the data and details

It mentions that - 'Holi or Phagwah (Bhojpuri </wiki/Bhojpuri>) is an annual Hindu </wiki/Hindu> spring </wiki/Spring_%28season%29> festival. It takes place over two days around late March </wiki/March> or early April </wiki/April>. As per the Hindu </wiki/Hindu> calendar </wiki/Calendar>, it falls on the last day on the month of Phalgun (फाल्गुन), which is a Purnima (or Pooranmashi) Full Moon </wiki/Full_Moon> on a Purnima (or Pooranmashi) Full Moon </wiki/Full_Moon>, and on the first day of Chaitra (चैत्र). It is a celebration also of the Hindu New Year, as Chaitra is the first month of the Hindu Year'

This data is totally wrong. Holi falls on the Full moon of month of Phalgun that is correct. But it never falls on 1st day of Chaitra. In Hindu calendar, month has 30 days - first 15 days are of full moon (waxing moon) and next 15 days are of waning moon. Every hindu calendar month ends on Amavasya and not on Full moon. So after Holi Full moon, there are next 15 days of the month of Phalgun and after Phalgun Amavasya, there is Chaitra Shudha Pratipada (1st day of Chaitra) which is Hindu new year. This new year day is called Gudipadawa in Maharashtra, Ugadi in Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Andhrapradesh.

Website http://www.destinationindia.com can give more detailed and correct information about Hindu festivals.

So in summary, Holi is NOT the 'First day of Hindu New Year'. Please correct this fact and data. Hope whoever put this information, is informed about this critical error.

If you have any doubts you can contact me on manjusha_kamble@vsnl.net

Is the link (www.carmaworld.com/monthpicks.aspx?catid=83) -- Holi Hai -- really that good? It has only commercial content. Are commercials appreciated in an encyclopaedia? -- mohansn

[edit] Picture

I'm not very impressed with the picture. A bunch of kids spraying each other with paint on a university lawn is not very evocative or distinctive to this holiday. Do we have any better pictures, perhaps ones of Holi religious ceremonies in South Asia? Babajobu 18:03, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

I can see it getting replaced with something better, but I think it should be kept until there is a problem finding a place for it. I brought in a new image, if you havn't seen. Cheers, Sam Spade 12:21, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] article merger from 16th March 2006 Navi Mumbai riot

I am recommending an article merger of this information as it was recently placed in WP:PROD. As there are reports of riots during Islamic Hajj and Christian pilgrimages, I felt it best to pass the information here so that the editors will do what they feel is most useful from it.--み使い Mitsukai 06:14, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

A merge would be fine; I just don't want a whole article on a single event that only injured 50 people. This isn't Wikinews. Melchoir 06:31, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I would like to strongly oppose merger. Holi is prominent and historic festival, and such events occur on every Holi (every year) hundreds of times across India. Just that this news got its article doesn't justify its merger with the general event. Riots have no connection with spirit or idea of Holi, except they happened on this day. In fact, I would be okay if that article (on riot) be deleted as its hardly a news worthy or encyclopedic event (no sentiments please, lets be factual).AshishG^talk_{00:56, June 10, 2008 (UTC).}

I don't really think a merger would be a good idea - it would throw the article out of balance - compared to the festival as a whole, this event is trivial. Including it would, IMO, violate the whole "undue weight" idea. Guettarda 06:59, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, I agree with both of you as well. Who wants to AfD it? Melchoir 08:33, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Please don't merge it. A link of in "See this also" section may be better idea. Wces423 10:48, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I do not understand how linking a riot which does not have anything to do with Holi is going to help the article. Just because the word "Holi" appears in the riot article does not warrant it to be linked to Holi.--Chsunil 22:45, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Fine, I'll do it. Melchoir 03:03, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

On second thought, it seems that violence is continuing. I don't want to AfD it yet, or perhaps at all; the original article will still need a name change at the very least, though. Melchoir 03:11, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

Name change definitely required. I not following this event particularly, but I don't see this news in prominence in Indian media itself (which I am following) so I wouldn't mind AfD. AshishG^talk_{00:56, June 10, 2008 (UTC).}

Strongly oppose merge. These are very different entities. Maybe link to the riots under a subsection of problems during holi ? Pradiptaray 09:33, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

I STRONGLY oppose the merger....it's really not relevant to the topic

I also strongly oppose the merger as I do not see any relation between a riot happening somewhere in India to a festival which is celebrated all over india (mostly). They do not relate at all This is Tanul | Wanna Talk 07:24, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

I also strongly OPPOSE the merge. —Adityanath 17:59, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

I STRONGLY discourage the merger of such news with the HOLI article.This article is a information article on HOLI a festival in INDIA and NEPAL and its historical significance. There is no need to introduce communal tension in this information.

Strongly oppose. This would be akin to merging the article on the Easter Rising with the article on Easter or Tet offensive with Tet. (I'm sure many more parallels could be found). Holi is an Indian festival. Why should it be merged with an incident that took place in one particular year? (Also, the sooner the merger sign is taken down the better. The merger suggestion has been made on very dubious grounds and the sign only disfigures the article). User:Bathrobe (not logged in)

Okay, I probably should explain my reasoning (should have done that earlier; mea culpa). The reason I recommended the merger between the pages is that (from what I saw), there was a correlation between the riots and the holiday. Considering that the page on Muslim hajj contains information on similar situations (there is also the fork article Incidents during the Hajj), and the Mumbai article itself states that: The residents of Simplex Colony alleged that the villagers from the Agri community were using the Holi festival as an excuse for eve teasing, I felt that this might be a situation that required detailing as such.

If the 2006 riots have nothing to do with holi (which, again, from my POV, it seemed that they did), then I'll be fine with a cancellation of a merger. I'm not out to offend anyone at all; I merely thought that it was a valid point, enough so that I'm looking for similar instances in other religions (aside from hajj incidents) so that I don't appear hypocritical or anti-Hindu. Hope this explains my reasoning, and apologies if I've offended anyone (which, again, I was not out to do).--み使い Mitsukai 12:50, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

• Opposeas articulated by User:Bathrobe. While the riots may have been at the time of the festival and even triggered by it, we would not mix incidents at the time of festivals with a general encyclopedic article on the festival Anything more than a see also level of mention seems inappropriate unless that incident has distorted the way the festival is celebrated or whatever - I don't believe these riots were that significant. Given the opposition and the comments of User:Mitsukai of 6 April, I will untag.--A Y Arktos\^talk 22:52, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

I think it's only fair that I now advertise the AfD here: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/16th March 2006 Navi Mumbai riot. Melchoir 23:18, 11 April 2006 (UTC) ...Right, it's gone. Melchoir 19:13, 16 April 2006 (UTC) the hindu religion is graet and this festival sounds very interesting

[edit] Similar customs

In the Greek village Galaxidi there is a custom of throwing meal/flour at each other on Clean Monday (there is mention of this in the Greek version of the article). This custom seems to bear resemblance to Holi. Should this maybe be mentioned? — Hrothberht 22:26, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge from Dol-Purnima

It was proposed on Dol-Purnima that it be merged with this article. I have replaced the tag there, with one asking to merge into this one, and tagged here also. I have no opinion one way or the other, but I will do the merge and redirect Dol-Purnima here unless someone objects. --Selket ^Talk 00:18, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I am not sure if the article on Dol Purnima should be merged with holi. In west bengal the festival called "Dol Yatra" happens on a day which is 1 day off from the date of Holi (I forgot if it happes the day before or the day after). But other than the playing with colors rest of the customs and rituals also have lot of differences. In bengali custom there is no burning of the effigy of the demoness Holica which is the north Holi for the rest of the north Indians, instead there are some Vaishnav customs some of which is described in the Dol-Purnima article. Also there are customs of eating a hard sugary candy called Math which comes in various shapes. and many such other rituals in Dol. --Dr.saptarshi 04:38, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

I Strongly urge not to merge the two entity. They are two different festivals with different significances for Hindus from different regions. Dr.saptarshi has made some very valid points against this motion. Holi has significance to all hindus but Dol Purnima mainly has a following in the Begali community. Also Dol Purnima is more of a procession but Holi is considered as more of a communal get together. --AChhawal 5 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Please fix

"Pink contains cancer" ?

[edit] Why is this article so skewed to what's wrong with Holi?

Half the article is about toxicity of color agents and deforestation from fires. The Wikipedia article on Christmas doesn't spend half its verbiage on the evils of Christmas trees and how candy canes cause diabetes. The Easter article isn't all about the horrors of Peeps. I don't object to the inclusion of these things, but a Westerner reading this article would conclude that Holi is a festival when people throw deadly poisons on each other.Ninquerinquar 23:41, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree. The first half of the article is informative, the environmental section just screams "Western viewpoint." Darius 23:25, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Environmental impacts of Indian festivals

The toxic impacts of the chemical colours used during Holi is not simply a 'Western' perspective. These colours are remnants of industrial processes, can contain powdered glass and even engine oils. Several Indians have chosen to stop playing Holi because of the skin rashes and eye trouble they have sufferred due to these colours. It is very important to let people know about the toxic impacts as well as give them eco sensitive alternatives so that can indeed play a safe and natural Holi. As of today, yes, Holi has become a festival where people are throwing deadly poisons at each other. Shethgutman (talk) 06:31, 26 January 2008 (UTC)shethgutman

[edit] removed typo

removed typo "others[l]".

[edit] the article doesn't seem to explain *when* Holi actually is

It says that it takes place over two days in either late February or early March, and that it falls on the full moon that in 2008 takes place on the 22nd of March. What it doesn't explains is how exactly these dates are derived, i.e. how is it decided which full moon is the full moon that Holi falls on? Compare this to the Easter article which clearly states that easter takes place on the: "First Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21". This article needs a succinct explanation like that. --86.135.178.19 (talk) 16:18, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Holi date 2009

On the Hindi article about Holi there seems to be a date telling when Holi will be in 2009. I'm not really capable of reading Hindi ... can someone competent please insert the correct date here in the English article? Thanks! jo) --JoWi (talk) 00:42, 22 April 2008 (UTC)