A popular version of the story, tells of an evil king who became so powerful he forced his subjects to worship him as their god. But to the king’s ire, his son Prahlada continued to be an

ardent devotee of the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu. The angry king plotted with his sister, Holika, to kill his son. Holika, who was immune to fire, tricked Prahlada to sit in a pyre with her,

but when the pyre was lit, the boy’s devotion to Lord Vishnu allowed them to escape unscathed while Holika, from whom the festival derives its name, was burned to death despite her immunity.