A sneak peek into Bachchan’s Holika Dahan celebrations

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 25 (ANI): As Holika Dahan or choti Holi, a ritual associated with the festival of colours, was marked across the country, several Bollywood celebrities, including the Bachchan family, also performed puja at the homes on this auspicious occasion on Sunday.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s granddaughter Navya Nanda shared several pictures where the family was seen taking part in Holika Dahan celebrations.

One of the images showed Navya’s ‘mamu’ Abhishek Bachchan closely monitoring the burning the Holika (the demon torched as part of this ritual).

Navya’s grandmother and veteran actress Jaya Bachchan also featured in Navya’s Holika Dahan album.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter Aaradhya were also spotted in the background of an image where Navya was seen applying Holi colours on Abhishek. The whole Bachchan family opted for ethnic attire on the occasion.

“Holika Dahan,” Navya captioned the post in Hindi.

Abhishek also shared some pictures from Holika Dahan pooja on his Instagram account and posted, “May the Holika burn all evil away. Happy Holi!”

Choti Holi is a festival full of meaning and symbolism. The ritual of lighting the sacred bonfire stems from the legend of Holika.

According to Hindu mythology, there was once a demon king named Hiranyakashipu, who was against his son Prahlad’s devotion to Lord Vishnu. As a result, Hiranyakashipu asked his sister Holika to kill Prahlad.

However, when Holika tried to kill Prahlad by dragging him to a pyre, she was consumed by the fire herself while Prahlada emerged unscathed, with the blessings of Lord Vishnu.

During Holika Dahan, devotees walk and pray around bonfires carrying vessels full of water.