By Sydney Hirsch
While students around the world suffer through their final months of school, a festival in India is bringing color and cheer to quiet spring days. The festival is called Holi, consisting of two days where family and friends meet up to eat, talk, and celebrate. And, best of all, Holi is known for huge crowds gathering and launching colorful powder in the air, painting themselves in all the colors of the rainbow.
The festival starts on March 9th, where prayers are spoken and a huge bonfire is lit. The bonfire represents joy’s triumph over darkness, and people spend the night dancing and singing around it. The next day, is the most famous and exciting part; the colors. In big cities, such as Mathura and Vrindavan, huge crowds spend hours spraying each other with colorful powder, doing rain dances, and singing songs.
There are plenty of traditional dishes to enjoy during Holi. Saffron Rice, a vibrant yellow rice similar to fried rice, is a good example of an almost mandatory food for the Holiday. Desserts include Puran Poli (sweet buttery flatbread), Mattar Kheer (rice pudding), and Malpua (pancakes). Most of the foods served on that day are especially sold, and known for being flavorful or sweet.
The whole festival is meant to celebrate good destroying evil. The Holika Dahanto ceremony, which is the lighting of a huge bonfire, represents the destruction of the demoness Holika by the god of preservation, Lord Vishnu. The colors come from Lord Krishnu, the reincarnation of Vishnu who would tease villagers by splashing them in water and color. It is also time to give thanks for the recent harvest. The whole day is free of prayers and rituals, it’s simply meant for having fun! The “Festival of Colors” is one of the most joyous days of the year, full of dance and excitement, and popular because it reminds people to be thankful and love the people around them.
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