HAPPY PHAGWAH!

PHAGWAH, one of the most joyous and people-oriented festivals, is being celebrated countrywide today. Like Christmas, this is a festival to which people look forward since it is underpinned by serious and universal moral precepts and welcomes and involves people of every race, class, culture and creed in its celebrations.

Phagwah first came to Guyana with the 19th-century Indian indentured immigrants nearly two centuries ago and though it was not a public holiday, the sugar industry, the largest employer of labour in the colony, gave their workers a holiday. Many other businesses closed their doors on that day; it was only the banks and some government offices which kept open, but their activity was very low-keyed and many of these offices and even the banks closed early.

After Independence, Phagwah was formally declared a public holiday, giving legal status to a festival which was long and widely celebrated. Hindu festivals always have a philosophic and moral basis and at the same time are celebratory. Being very ancient, over the millennia, various traditions became attached to these festivals. In Guyana, the two most common traditions surrounding Phagwah is the story of Prahalad and secondly, being a spring festival.

Spring festivals were celebrated in all the ancient civilizations and cultures and the time of celebration fell in close proximity to each other. They all used the lunar calendar just as Easter does. In ancient Persia, Nov Roz was celebrated and is still a major holiday in the Middle East and in all those countries where Persian civilization had touched. Even Easter, though associated with the most important day in the Christian calendar, is named after the old Teutonic goddess, Eoster, who had a strong connection with Spring. Since spring was a time when the cold of winter had given way to the warm sun of spring and crops were sown and some reaped, it became a symbol for the renewal of life. It was a time of joy and relaxation and plenty and festivity and this was manifested in all the ancient Spring festivals. Phagwah was the spring festival par excellence and a variety of foods and sweetmeats were prepared on that day and shared with the community.

The other strand of the festival is the religious one: King Hiranya Kasipu was a king in ancient India who was powerful and wealthy and who had a flair for religion. He, therefore, began to practice extreme austerities (tapasya) until he became such a godly man that he was recognized by the gods. He was offered three boons or wishes which he gladly accepted since he would become immortal by them. His three wishes were that he could never be killed or die by either night or day; that he could never die or be killed on the surface of the earth; and the third wish was that he could never be killed by either Man or Animal. All three wishes were granted, but Hiranya Kasipu suddenly became consumed with pride, arrogance and a desire for power since he now realized he was immortal.

The first thing he did was to declare he was God and all his subjects must worship him and he became murderously tyrannical. Anyone who did not worship him was killed and the country lived in fear. If anyone attempted to offer him any advice, whether it was a wise man or priest, he had him immediately killed. Quite unexpectedly, his very small son, Prahalad, publicly declared that his father was not God and he would not worship him but would continue to worship God. The King decided that Prahalad must die a very painful death by being burnt alive. He had a large pyre built and arranged with his sister, Holika, Prahalad’s aunt, to hold Prahalad in her lap as the pyre burnt. Holika had the quality of being incapable of being burned by fire. Holika and Prahalad sat in the middle of the pyre which was immediately set alight. When the citizens went to the pyre next day, they found that Holika was burnt to ashes and Prahalad was unharmed, since the power of being unburnable had been transferred to Prahalad when Holika held him in her lap. This event is commemorated each year, usually the evening before Phagwah day, by “the burning of Holika” which could be an effigy or even a wooden pole or tree branches.

Hiranya Kasipu was furiously incensed when he learnt what had happened and went to the largest temple, shouting that he was God. As he strutted about the temple, he took out his sword and violently slashed one of the columns of the temple saying any other God could come and challenge him now. As he did so, a man-lion, Narasingha, suddenly jumped out of the column and attacked Hiranya Kasipu. They fought and struggled until they came to the steps of the temple. On the steps, Narasingha managed to grab the king by the throat, lifted him off the ground and strangled him. At this time it was dusk, that is neither night nor day; the king was strangled in midair off the earth; and Narasingha was neither Man nor Animal. Narasingha was, in reality, an incarnation of God, an Outar, who had come to save mankind from the tyrant.

The country broke out into wild celebration on being freed of the tyrant. The citizens threw abeer (red water) and red powder (abrak) on each other– red being the celebratory colour– sang and danced in the streets and feasted. Phagwah, each year, is regarded as a re-enactment of these celebrations. In Guyana, people of all races, religions, and classes celebrate Phagwah, bringing much joy and good-fellowship to the Society and each year it cultivates greater and greater social cohesion and unity in a practical and enjoyable way.
As we celebrate Phagwah today, we extend our heartiest Phagwah greetings to all. Happy Phagwah! Happy Holi!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.