Holi is one of the major festivals of Hinduism, which is celebrated in the month of Phalgun. In the scriptures, it is considered a symbol of the victory of good over evil. It is said that the festival of Holi is an opportunity to increase love and faith in the hearts of people. On this day, all the people forget the old grievances and embrace each other and celebrate this festival with love. There is also a tradition of Holika Dahan a day before Holi.
The festival of Holi is a festival of colors, a festival of happiness, but do you know that eight days before this comes a time when all auspicious works stop and are considered inauspicious? Yes, we are talking about Holashtak. Holashtak is the time of eight days before Holi when there are peculiar changes in nature and the effect of negative energy in the atmosphere increases.
What is Holashtak?
Holashtak is made up of two words – ‘Holi’ and ‘Ashtak’, which means a period of eight days. It runs from the Ashtami date of Phalgun month to Holika Dahan. In the year 2025, Holashtak will start from March 7 and will remain till 13 March.
When does Holashtak come?
Every year the days of Holashtak are counted from the Ashtami date of Phalgun Sud to the full moon (Holikadhan) of Phalgun Sud. Holikadhan is done in the evening on the day of Purnima. Only then the comments made about fire and air in the time of hubbilities can be true. Sometimes Sud Chaudas date ends before the evening or in the afternoon, and Sud Poonam Tithi also ends before the evening or the next day in the afternoon. At such a time, the full moon moon rises on the evening of the fourteenth day. This is called the full moon of the fast in the language of the festival.
The word Ashtak has two meanings in Gujarati language.
(1) Ashtak means a group of eight verses. Mangalashtak, Yamunashtak, Madhurashtak etc.
(2) Ashtak means group of eight days. Holashtak means eight days before Holi (Hutoshi).
Is Holashtak considered to be Kammurta?
The main objective of Holashtak is to benefit agricultural culture and business by studying the spread of fruits of plants. And to avoid auspicious tasks, seven or eight days of Holashtak are known with impressive and weighty words like ‘Sami Hushposhi’ and ‘Sami Ki Sami Jhal’.
Why is it considered inauspicious?
According to mythology, during these eight days, Hiranyakashyap had tortured his son Prahlada a lot to distress him with devotion to Lord Vishnu. Therefore this time is considered full of negative energy. In astrological point of view, eight planets are in a state of anger during Holashtak, due to which the effect of negative energy increases. These planets include Moon, Sun, Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Rahu.
