Masane ki Holi: Holi in the Burning Ground

 

मसाने की होली
Masane ki Holi

(3 min read)

Holi at Vrij and Kashi

Vrij ki Holi, dripping with the nectar of amour, is in remembrance of Krishna’s rasaleela with the gopis. The enchanting, lilting phag folk-songs sung in chorus by rural women of north India, heard late into the night many days before Holi, sing of love and passion not excluding risqué and ribaldry. But Kashi’s masane ki Holi (Holi in the Burning Ground) is unique, and very different from Vrij ki Holi. At Manikarnika Ghat on Phalguna Shukla Paksha Dvadashi, i.e., three days before His devotees celebrate the festival, Lord Shiva plays Holi, according to legend.

Kashi: Shivapuram

Kashi is one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus, to die at which is believed to secure eternal happiness.

अयोध्या मथुरा माया काशी काञ्ची अवन्तिका। 

पुरी द्वारावती चैव सप्तैता मोक्षदायिका:।। 

Another name for Kashi is Shivapuram or Shivapuri, the abode of Shiva; and Shivalayam means a temple of Shiva, and a cemetery or burning ground, too. That is why there is nothing odd about Shiva playing holi at the burning ground. The souls have been blessed with moksha, and that calls for celebration.

Masane ki Holi

Masane ki Holi is an audacious concept: Dance, Music, and revelry at Manikarnika Ghat, Kashi’s most famous burning ground. Shiva Nataraj, the celestial Dancer is accompanied by the creatures of night - bhuts, pishachas, and aghoris; Music is made by Damru, the primal, divine sound of creation, the hum of the galaxies, as it were, to herald life. It is also the sound of pralaya, of annihilation and destruction. Nataraj dances with equal fervour both Ananda or Lasya Tandav and the Samhara Tandav. Only a vowel differentiates शिव (Shiva) from शव (Shava), the Eternal from the ephemeral. Once Shiva, the divine spark of life departs, the body becomes shava, a corpse.

Visualise the scene – burning pyres, mourning kin, the overhanging presence and smell of death, the mood touched by श्मशान वैराग्य (smashana vairagya)- despondent, sombre, and solemn; a group of holi revellers (huriyare) - Pandas and Pujaris, the servitors of Smashaneswar Mahadev, the presiding deity of the Ghat – dancing, singing, and smearing चिता भस्म (chita bhasm) on each other. Masane ki Holi may look like a macabre celebration in the backdrop of Death, but it is not.

 

The ash from the pyre is the colour of the sky - boundless and infinite, the only garment of Shiva, the Ascetic. That is why He is called Digambar.

Death is moksha, liberation from the bondage of life. The atoms that were confined to a body, space and time are now released. They are on the earth, the waters, and the sky. No PIN code, but here, there, everywhere.

Shiva and Sati

However, death of a loved one is an unbearable trauma, and even Shiva had once suffered it, as a legend tells. When Sati killed herself at her father Daksha’s insult of Shiva, her husband; a distraught and inconsolable Shiva put Sati’s corpse on his shoulder and began Samhara Tandav, the cosmic dance that would destroy all the worlds. Upon prayer from the gods, Vishnu sent Sudarshan chakra to dismember Sati’s body which fell in 108 places, the pithas where Shakti is worshipped even today.

Death is a trauma, but it has to be managed. Life must go on despite the finality of death.

Shiva’s Cosmetic: Ash

Why is ash Shiva’s only cosmetic? As Mahakal at Ujjain, every day the first shringar at brahma muhurta is with bhasm, maybe to remind the devotees of the transitoriness of life so that they may spend the rest of the day in meaningful, and not frivolous, pursuits.

Holi Songs

Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, the legendary singer, has sung a memorable song on the unique Holi at Kashi: *khele masane mein Holi Digambar - which portrays a panoramic picture of the scene on Manikarnika Ghat on this occasion. It is available on You Tube, and you may like to tune in.

The song sounds like other famous songs on Holi (Holi khele Raghuvira Avadha mein, Aaj Biraj mein Holi re rasiya, Holi khele Nandlala Biraj mein, and others), but is significantly different in tone, mood, and motif. Na gopa na gopi, na Shyam na Radha, na sajan na gori … neti, neti, neti… not your usual Holi! A popular Bundeli holi geet sings: the reveller is ready to play holi with rang gulal bhar jhori (having filled a pouch with coloured dust); in Masane ki Holi, Shiva dances with chita bhasm bhar jhori.

The other songs celebrate Spring, the season of new life, regeneration, and love; this song celebrates life regardless of death, in the very presence of Death.

 You may possibly like some of the songs listed below in random order:

• ·       Aaj Biraj mein Holi re rasiya – Shobha Gurtu
• ·       Kaisi Hori Machaiyi Kanhaiyi - Bhimsen Joshi & Ashwini Bhide
• ·       Khele Masane mein Holi Digambar – Pandit Chhannulal Mishra
• ·       Holi khele masane mein: Malini Awasthi
• ·       Hori khele Raghuveera Avadh mein: Amitabh Bachchan, Alka Yagnik, Sukhwinder Singh & Udit Narayan
• ·       Holi khele Nandlala Biraj mein – (Film: RAHI: 1953)
• ·       Shir Bandhe Mukut Khele Holi: Bundeli Holi Geet: Maithili Thakur, Rishav Thakur & Ayachi Thakur

All these songs are on You Tube.

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* Upon my request for more information on masane ki holi, C.P. Singh, a dear friend sent me the link for this beautiful song for which I am grateful to him.

Lyrics of the song:

खेलें मसाने में होरी , दिगम्बर खेलें मसाने में होरी ,

भूत-पिशाच बटोरी , दिगम्बर खेलें मसाने में होरी ,

 

लखि सुन्दर फागुनी छटा के , मन से रंग-गुलाल हटा के

चिता-भस्म भरि झोरी , दिगम्बर खेलें मसाने में होरी ,

 

गोप न गोपी औ' श्याम न राधा , ना कोई रोग न कौनो बाधा ,

ना साजन ना गोरी , दिगम्बर खेलें मसाने में होरी ,

 

नाचत गावत डमरूधारी , छोड़ें सर्प गरल पिचकारी ,

पीटें प्रेत थपोरी , दिगम्बर खेलें मसाने में होरी ,

 

भूतनाथ की मंगल होरी , देख सिहायें बृज के छोरी ,

धन-धन नाथ अघोरी , दिगम्बर खेलें मसाने में होरी ।

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