Holika Dahan, also known as Chhoti Holi or Kamudu Pyre, is the ritual fire lit on the night before the colour festival. Communities gather around a stacked pyre of wood and dried cow dung, circle it, and offer grain, coconut and the first ears of the season's harvest. The story attached to it is that of Holika, sister of the demon king Hiranyakashipu, who tried to burn the boy Prahlada and was consumed herself while he was spared.
The fire is lit on the full-moon night (Purnima) of Phalguna. Tradition requires that it be kindled during the pradosh period after sunset and that the bhadra interval, considered unfavourable, be avoided; where bhadra covers the whole evening, the muhurta is pushed later into the night.
In many rural areas the ashes and warmth of the fire are treated as protective, and people carry embers home or apply ash the next morning before the colours begin.