Holi and the sacred "mann"

It is holi today, and I am reminded of an old tradition that is somehow lost in the past now. I still relish it though and would love to revive it. This post is an attempt in that direction.

When my grandmother (Biji) was relatively young, she used to prepare what she called "mann". It is a sweet bread made on the ocassion of choti holi.

Before I go any further, I think that it is pertinent for me to explain the concept of choti holi. Long back, there was a king called Hiranyakashyapa. Hiranyakashyapa was very powerful and wanted everyone to consider him as God and pray to him in place of God. However, his son Prahalad, refused to call him God and prayed to Shri Vishnu. This annoyed him to such extent that he decided to get him killed. Prahalad survived all attempts. Hiranyakashyapa had a sister named Holika. She had a special kind of apparel which was charmed such that when she wears it then she will not get burnt but whoever else wears it, he/she will catch fire. In a frustrated moment, Hiranyakashyapa asked his sister to wear the clothes, take Prahalad with her and enter into fire. However, Prahalad continually prayed to God and survived the fire. However Holika caught fire (even in the charmed apparel) and died.

Coming back to manns :-). They represent the Prahalad that survives the fire. Sweet dough is made by using flour and jaggery. Then some of it is taken into hand and flattened into circular shape, about 5-6 inches in diameter and about 1cm thick. It is tied with thread - kind of allegory to the charmed clothes of Holika. The same thread is also put around cakes of cow-dung (uppalas). A pyre of wood is set. The cow-dung cakes and flattened dough cakes are tied around the pyre and it is alighted. Interestingly, this is done during the day at the place of a Panditaini (wife of pandit).

The cow-dung cakes burn away (representing Holika that got burnt), but the flattened dough gets baked and survives the fire. This baked bread is called mann. They are eaten as prasad of God and to imbibe the immense faith and trust in God that Prahalad exhibited even at trying times when his own father wanted to kill him.

I miss the manns these days... My mother works - and therefore never had time to make these cakes with Biji. And we also moved to Delhi, where this culture is almost non-existent. So, I kind-of miss the "real" festival. :-)...

However my aunty (chachi) makes them even now, though in a toned down version of the ceremony. Almost no one goes to Panditaini's place now. She makes them at home on a flat pan. So, there are no cow-dung cakes to represent Holika, nor are there the threads to represent the charmed clothes. What continues to exist is Prahalad - and the continued blessings of God. But the story of immense faith in God - the fact that God will always protect his devotees - is kind-of lost in this abridged version of Holi.