Holika Dahan 2026: Holika Dahan is related not only to Prahlad but also to Putna, know the story

Holika Dahan story: Every year the festival of Holika Dahan is celebrated on the full moon day of Phalgun month. This festival is celebrated as a symbol of the victory of good over evil. This year, March 03 is the full moon of Phalgun month. Holika Dahan will be performed on this day. The story of Holika Dahan is related to Prahlad, a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, but Holika Dahan is also said to be related to the demon Pootna. Let us know the story.

According to the legend, demon Hiranyakashipu started considering himself as God after getting a boon from Lord Brahma, but his son Prahlad did not worship him. Prahlad used to be engrossed in the worship of Lord Vishnu. Seeing this, Hiranyakashyap got angry and made several attempts to kill his son, but he could not succeed.

Holika got burnt in the fire

Finally, on the full moon day of Phalgun month, he asked his sister Holika to sit in the fire with Prahlad, because Holika had the boon of Lord Brahma that fire could not burn her. Holika sat on the fire to kill Prahlad, but nothing happened to Prahlad and Holika got burnt to ashes in the fire.

Relation of Holika Dahan with Pootna slaughter

According to another story, Lord Krishna’s maternal uncle Kansa had sent the demon Putana to Gokul to kill him. Kansa was asked by Putana to kill the newborn babies of the last six months from two nights ago. Putna reached Gokul in the guise of a toy seller and started killing all the newborns one by one by feeding them her milk. This created an uproar in Gokul.

Putna also reached Krishna’s house and secretly took the newborn Krishna and started feeding him milk, but God took Putna’s life. When Putna died, her body became very big. The people of Gokul celebrated the death of Putna and burnt her effigy. It is said that this tradition later became popular in the form of Holika Dahan.

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