Hi friends! Here are a few lines about saddi festival- Holla Mohalla. Holla Mohalla is a festival of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on">Punjab</st1lace> celebrated every year in the month of March. The celebration of the festival starts a day after Holi and continues for over three days. This festival also retains the spirit of fun and enjoyment of Holi. Originally Guru Govind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru started the festival by gathering Sikhs for military exercises and mock battles after holi. This is an important community festival in <st1lace w:st="on">Punjab</st1lace>. The day begins with early morning prayers. After that Kirtans are sung and people perform kar seva. Everyone partakes of Prasad which is followed by langar. During the evening, the Nihang Sikhs, exhibit their martial skills through sword-fighting displays, archery and a variety of horse-riding exercises. The Nihangs also splash colour on everyone in the gathering. Stories and songs about the life and bravery of the ten Sikh gurus are also recited. I would like to hear about how you celebrate the festival.
hey that was a good piece of information...thanks for sharing the art, culture and festivities of your home town.... Rgds
Holla Mohalla, while being an occasion to rejoice, is also a time to restore faith in the Khalsa Panth and rededicate oneself to the service of the community. Everyone, irrespective of their social standing, involves themselves in kar seva - manual labour, like helping in the langars, or public kitchens, cleaning the gurudwaras, and washing dishes. The festival is celebrated grandly at Anandpur Sahib. Thousands of people visit the shrine to participate in prayers. Holla Mohalla is a reminder that enjoyment of life should go hand in hand with the responsibilities to society and constant effort to improve oneself and contribute to helping others and bettering life for others. Has anyone celebrated this festival in different way?
Hola Mahalla or simply Hola is a Sikh festival that takes place on the first of the lunar month of Chet which usually falls in March. This, by a tradition estabished by Guru Gobind Singh, follows the Hindu festival of Holi by one day; Hola is the masculine form of the feminine sounding Holi. The word "Mohalla" is derived from the Arabic root hal (alighting, descending) and is a Punjabi word that implies an organized procession in the form of an army column. But unlike Holi, when people playfully sprinkle color, dry or mixed in water, on each other, the Guru made Hola Mohalla an occasion for the Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles.
