Holika Dahan · Chhoti Holi Festival The full moon of Phalguna, the evening the bonfire is lit for Holika, who sat in the fire holding Prahlada and burnt while the boy came out unhurt.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Holika Dahan · Chhoti Holi
- हिन्दी
- होलिका दहन
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The full moon of Phalguna, the evening the bonfire is lit for Holika, who sat in the fire holding Prahlada and burnt while the boy came out unhurt. The pile is built at the crossroads over the previous weeks, circled and lit after dusk, and the new barley and gram are roasted in it and eaten.
- Deity
- Holika, Prahlada, Narasimha, Agni
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
The Purnima running at pradosha, the evening the fire is lit, with the classical exception: when the Purnima of the next day runs past three prahars, three quarters of the daylight, the Holika is burnt that following evening instead. In 2026 the Purnima ran from 17:56 on 2 March to 17:08 on the 3rd and the dahan was the 3rd, with Holi on the 4th. Almanacs that avoid the Bhadra hour name a muhurtham later that night; the day is the same.
The fast
Some keep the day of the dahan on one meal. New grain, coconut and gram are put into the fire and the roasted ears are shared.
Where the regions differ
The north and west keep the fire and the colours on two days; the Deccan keeps the same full moon as Kamadahana or Kama Dahanam, burning Kama who was reduced to ashes by Shiva's glance, which is the southern reading of the same fire.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.