The celebration of Holi only takes place for a week, but the preparations for various events begins almost forty days before the festival. One of the main events during this week is when everyone goes to a temple and performs a ritual to represent the death of Holika. Days before the ritual, people start gathering materials that can be burned such as, wood, dried leaves, twigs, and branches of trees. On the day of the ritual, everyone gathers around outside the temple where all the burning materials are stacked in a pile. In the middle of the pile, a combustible statue of Holika and a non-combustible statue of Prahlad are placed side by side. Then, on the eve of Holi, the pile of wood and statues are set on fire and everyone starts chanting a mantra to keep the evil spirits away. On the next day, left over ashes are collected by people the next morning and are smeared all over the body as act of purification. The fire and the burning of the statue of Holika are meant to clear the atmosphere from evilness. However, the heat resulting from the fire also portrays that winter is behind and the beautiful days of spring are ahead. The day after the Holika ritual is the actual day that people look forward to during this festival. It is the day where the colors of spring are born.

Question

The celebration of Holi only takes place for a week, but the preparations for various events begins almost forty days before the festival. One of the main events during this week is when everyone goes to a temple and performs a ritual to represent the death of Holika. Days before the ritual, people start gathering materials that can be burned such as, wood, dried leaves, twigs, and branches of trees. On the day of the ritual, everyone gathers around outside the temple where all the burning materials are stacked in a pile. In the middle of the pile, a combustible statue of Holika and a non-combustible statue of Prahlad are placed side by side. Then, on the eve of Holi, the pile of wood and statues are set on fire and everyone starts chanting a mantra to keep the evil spirits away. On the next day, left over ashes are collected by people the next morning and are smeared all over the body as act of purification. The fire and the burning of the statue of Holika are meant to clear the atmosphere from evilness. However, the heat resulting from the fire also portrays that winter is behind and the beautiful days of spring are ahead. The day after the Holika ritual is the actual day that people look forward to during this festival. It is the day where the colors of spring are born.

The last two sentenece are transition sentences for the next paragraph where i'm going to talk about how the role of colors play an important part in this festival.

Answer 1

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