Inderjeet.S.Bhatia ‘Prince ‘
Hola Mohalla is a big Sikh festival that takes place on the 2nd day of the lunar month of Chet which usually falls in the month of March. “Mohalla “is a Punjabi word that implies an organised procession in the form of an Army column accompanied by war drums and beats and proceeding to a given location or moving from one place to another.”Holi ” ,the one of the most important Hindu festivals of India,is celebrated every year on the 1st day of Chet month every year People joyfully sprinkle coloured powder,dry or mixed in water,on each other.Guru Gobind Singh Ji,the 10th Guru of the Sikhism,gave a new dimension to this festival of Holi by establishing “Hola”, to be celebrated a day after the great festival of” Holi”.
According to the Historians,Guru Gobind Singh Ji,the 10th master of the Sikhism,held the first event of HOLA on Chet vadi 1, 1757( B K)i.e 22Feb, 1701AD.at Anandpur Sahib.The festivities of Hola start before the 2nd of Chet at Anand pur Sahib and this festival lasts for 3 days. Guruji made Hola an occasion for the Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills in staged battles.This was probably done to forestall a grimmer struggle against the imperial powers and channelising people’s energy into more useful activities. Hola Mohalla, thus became an annual event to be held in an open ground near Holgarh, a fort across the rivlet Charan Ganga,flowing to the north west end of Anand pur Sahib.
The festival of Holi has its roots in the story of the child Bhagat Prahalad who would not accept his father Harnaksh as the living God. According to the Historians, in order to please her brother , Harnaksh ‘s sister named HOLIKA planned to burn child Prahalad alive.She took him in her lap and sat in the midst of easily combustible straw. Holika thought she would be protected by a cloth. ,but it was Prahalad who survived and Holika perished in the fire. This event gave rise to the belief that good always triumphs over the evil.The story of Prahalad was popular with the early Sikhs. Guru Gobind Singh Ji,the 10th Guru of Sikhism, built upon the story of Prahalad and founded the festival of Hola Mohalla.
Guru Granth Sahib ji, the holy book of the Sikhism,has verses reciting Prahalad by saints Namdev,Kabir and also by the 3rd Guru, Guru Amar Das ji.
As stated earlier, Hola Mohalla was established and is celebrated by the members of Sikhism in Anandpur Sahib and is one of the most important festivals of the Sikhs all over the world.The holy city of Anandpur Sahib is situated on one side of the Shivalik hills in Ropar district of Punjab and is well connected with the rest of the country both by road and rail This is one of the supremely important historical centre of the Sikhs.
The importance of Sri Anand pur Sahib can be gauaged from the fact that this was the place where the last 2 Sikh Gurus,Guru Teg Bahadur ji and Guru Gobind Singh ji lived.This was also the place where Guru Gobind Singh Ji founded the Khalsa Panth on the Baisakhi day of 1699 AD.The city is home to Takhat Sri Keshgarh Sahib,the 3rd of the 5 sacred Takhts in Sikhism.
As per historians, the town of Anand pur Sahib was founded by the 9th Sikh Guru,Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji in June 1665. Guruji previously lived in Kiratpur,but given the disputes with Ram Rai ji,the elder son of Guru Har Rai ji,he moved to a village in Makhowaal and named it Chakk Nanki,after the name of his mother. After the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur ji,the town was renamed as Anandpur Sahib when Guru Teg Bahadur ji ‘s son Gobind Rai was crowned as his successor by the members of Sikhism..who ,with the passage of time came to be known as Guru Gobind Singh ji
Hola Mohalla, marks one of the major colourful festival of the Sikhism at Anand pur Sahib.The tradition dates back to the times of 10th Guru,Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji,who decreed that the occasion of Holi be the occasion of display of marital spirit of the Sikhs.He gave a Sikh name to it and called it Hola Mohalla. Each year, more than 20 lakhs Sikhs assemble here from India and abroad and participate in the Hola Mohalla festivities which lasts for 3 days at Anand pur Sahib. The whole town wears a festive look. Community conferences, religious functions and Guru ke Langars are arranged.The main attraction of this festival is the presence of Nihangs in large numbers at Anand pur Sahib. They are the members of the Khalsa Army, known for their distinctive blue traditional robes and dumala which are often embellished. The highlight of Hola Mohalla is a huge procession taken out by the Nihangs Sahibaan , on the 3rd and last day of Hola Mohalla . The procession starts from the headquarters of the Nihangs Sahibaan, situated just opposite to the main gurudwara of Anand pur Sahib. This procession passes through the bazar,goes to the village Agampur and reaches the fort of Holgarh Sahib,the place where Guru Gobind Singh Ji used to celebrate the Hola Mohalla every year.Thereafter, the procession heads towards the sandy bed of Charan Ganga where demonstration of marital games like horse riding,”Ghatka”, tent pegging,sword weilding etc are witnessed by a large number of people present there.
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