As an ardent devotee of Shiva she got the boon that she would never die of drowning or burning. Hiranyakashipu couldn't kill his son Prahlada, the devotee of Vishnu. Then he planned to burn him to ashes. As Holi would never get burnt she was asked to walk in to the blazing fire with the child in her arms. As a reminiscent to this, the 'Holipoda' is celebrated and the next day is the festival of colours 'Holi' in which young and old participate.
People smear colour powders on each other's face and head and squirt coloured waters.
There is much fun and merriment in the festival. In some places the burning of the straw hut is known as Mendhapodi or the burning of a ram. A legend attached to its says that a demon known as Mesha was causing terror in the Heaven and Earth, Gods as well as human beings prayed Krishna to rescue them from his atrocities. Krishna killed and burnt him to ashes. It, is, therefore, to reminiscent this event that a hut is burnt which represents the adobe of the demon.