In the olden days, giant demons were called daityas. Hiranyakashyap was the king of the daityas and wanted to conquer the world and be worshipped by everyone.

Hiranyakashyap's son, Prahlad, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap did not like this but Prahlad was unmoved in his devotion. So, Hirnyakashyap decided to kill Prahlad. He tried to get snakes to crush Prahlad, but Prahlad prayed to Vishnu and was saved. Then Hiranyakashyap tried to throw Prahlad from a cliff, but Prahlad escaped. Finally, Hiranyakashyap called his sister Holika, a she-demon, to kill Prahlad. Holika had been given a boon that fire could not destroy her. She decided to take Prahlad in her lap and sit on a burning pyre.

As the flames engulfed them Prahlad called aloud for Lord Vishnu's help. To everybody's surprise, the fire slowly consumed Holika and she burned to death. Prahlad emerged safe and sound.