Kathmandu, Mar. 19:  The Fagu festival or Holi is being celebrated today by smearing “Abhir” of red vermilion powder and throwing  colour and water filled balloons on each other.

An important festival of the Nepalese people, the Holi begins on the eighth day of the Lunar calendar of the full moon and ends today with the burning of the “Chir’ on a full moon day. The festival is celebrated in the hilly areas including Kathmandu valley today and in the Terai region tomorrow.

In the  capital today, people danced in groups and smeared colours on each other in the streets and tourists watched the scene with fun.

The festival of Fagu or Holi is a government holiday throughout the country.

The festival has the myth that demon king Hiranya Kashyapu ordered his sister Holika to enter a fire with Pralhad, the son of the demon who was a follower of Lord Bishnu, in  her lap so that Pralhad could not have chanted prayers in the name of Lord Bishnu with the belief that his sister wouldn’t burn herself because she had received a boon that she wouldn’t burn in fire.

But it so happened that Holika was burned in the fire whereas Pralhad remained safe and alive and came cut of the  fire chanting prayers in the name of God.

From this onwards, the festival is celebrated by smearing colours in enjoyment.

There is also a saying that Lord Brahma had told Holika that the boon she had received would be meaningless if it was misued.

Elders believe that any premonitions can be avoided if the “Tika” of ash made out of the ‘Chir’ which is installed earlier is put on one’s forehead or kept in one’s own house.

The madness of enjoying by dousing dirty water and pelting water filled balloons at pedestrians from the windows of houses usually marks the festival.

The Fagu festival is also celebrated in Italy, the United States of America, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, Japan, Sumatra, Greece and Egypt in different ways besides Nepal and India.