Holi Hunnime

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love, is one of Hinduism's most famous and important festivals. It commemorates the gods Radha and Krishna's everlasting and heavenly love. The day also represents the triumph of virtue over evil, as it honours Vishnu's victory over Hiranyakashipu as Narasimha. It's also the day of Kama dahan from Shiva from his third eye.

It began and is primarily honoured in the Indian subcontinent, but it has spread to other areas of Asia and the Western world via the Indian diaspora. 

In Bilgi also, we celebrate Holi festival with lot of enthu and tradition. As Bilgi is part of Bagalkot district, that trade it carried over here too.  Bagalkot is known for it's holi celebration. It's said that Bagalkot is the second place in the world where holi is celebrated with such a enthu and tradition. Kolkotta is the first city.

After Shivaratri amavasya, they start the preperation for holi. In every street of the town, there is a place known as Holi-Katte where they keep all the wood, sticks, dung-cake. These are going to be used for the burning of kama- Kama Dahana on the holi day. For fifteen days from Shivaratri amavasya to Holi hunnime, they-kids, lads steal the wood, dung cake etc from the houses of the street and gather them in holikatte. Everyday they sing, play drums in the evening. One day before the Holi, they make the statues of Kama and Rati. People go to see them. 

Next day morning, that's next to hunnime-Poornima day, morning 5 am, they put all the wood and cow dung cake etc in one place and make it a gopur kind of stuff.  People come in procession with drums and bajantri, they lit the fire to this. They go to every street of the town and lit the gathered wood put in a shape.

After this only they start throwing colours on each other. They celebrate this as win over the evil. They burn the bad evil and celebrate by putting the colours on each other. They go to each other's house and put the holi- that's different colors. 

In each street, they make a bullock cart of colours, Tractors of colors and go around each streets of the town with throwing colors. There will be around 10-15 bullock carts and tractors fully filled with different colors. 

In some streets they arrange the color water rains, so that people can do rain dance.

Every day starting the next day, they create legendary dresses and costumes of mythology for the people and parade them through the streets in a procession. They call it "Sogu".

This goes on for a week. So over all it's a good entertainment for the people after the harvesting season in the field.