Hola Mohalla

Hola Mahalla or Hola Mohalla or simply Hola is a Sikh festival, which takes place on the first of the lunar month of Chet, which usually falls in March. This follows the Hindu festival of Holi; Hola is the masculine form of the feminine sounding Holi. Mahalia, derived from the Arabic root hal (alighting, descending), is a Punjabi word that implies an organized procession in the form of an army column accompanied by war drums and standard-bearers, and proceeding to a given location or moving in state from one Gurdwara to another.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/history-of-sikhism/2553-hola-mohalla.html

This custom originated in the time of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) who held the first march at Anandpur on Chet vadi 1, 1757 Bk (22nd February, 1701). Unlike Holi, when people playfully sprinkle color, dry or mixed in water, on each other the Guru made Hola Mahalla an occasion for the Sikhs to demonstrate their martial skills in simulated battles. This was probably done forestalling a grimmer struggle against the imperial power following the battle of Ninnohgarh in 1700. Holla Mahalla became an annual event held in an open ground near Holgarh Fort across the rivulet Charan Ganga, northwest to the town of Anandpur sahib. The popularity of this festival may be judged from the fact that out of five Sikh public holidays requested by the Khalsa Diwan, Lahore in 1889, the Government approved only two - Holla Mahalla and the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. Hola Mahalla is presently the biggest festival at Anandpur. It will be appropriate here to discuss briefly the town and the participants of this festival.

 
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khalsaai jaho jalaal

I have put some pictures of Holla Mohalla celebrations at Anandpur Sahib, Punjab at:

sunstaroverseas.com/aspnet_client/system_web/1_1_4322/HollaMohalla.pps

Rajbinder Singh

Very nice photos. Thank you. I have always wanted to go.

Those photos were great.

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=2553
Thanks!

I can't find ways to see through that link, if you feel appropriate you can upload your presentation in our download section for the benefit of fellow SPiaNs. :)
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=2553

Regards

I tried to upload the file but got following error:Upload Errorshttp://www.sunstaroverseas.com/aspnet_client/system_web/1_1_4322/HollaMohalla.pps:
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=2553
Invalid File

The file has been uploaded in our downloads section. :)

Wow thats intersting!
I never knew much about Holla Mohala, I always thought that it was the throwing of the colours and that was it!?!
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=2553
I would just like to ask, "How many people participate?"