Colors of Holi

As we mentioned earlier in the blog, Holi was celebrated on Wednesday. This is also known as the "Festival of Color," for reasons that will be obvious as you read further. There are many different stories that relate the origins of Holi, but the rituals of celebration generally include a big bonfire at night and throwing bright colors at people during the day. Part of the reasoning for the colors is a welcoming of spring. Apparently, all the spring-blooming flowers were mashed up into colors. This is a picture from the 1800s showing Krishna playing with holi colors, so it has been going on for a while.

We had a holi celebration today with the middle school students down at our sports field. The festivities actually started with a water fight. The colors that we throw are powdered, so this makes them stick (and dye one's skin) more effectively.

After a few minutes of water fighting, we started handing out handfuls of colored powders to the students. It was fun to watch the different methods of dispersal that the students and staff used. Some threw the powder in big puffs of color while others got up close and smeared the color on wet faces.

Regardless of the methods, everyone got very well covered in bright colors.

As you look at the colors on Dave's shirt below, keep in mind that it was white when we walked down to the field.

Everyone had a great time celebrating this unique cultural event. There were even snacks and drinks available when we all got tired out. The snacks turned green from the colors on our hands, but it was a nice treat.

In this final picture, you can see the two of us after our holi experience. The group below us on the field was still fighting with water, but we had called it a day.

Now that we've experienced holi, we might take the day off next year. Even after a couple of showers, we're still finding pink streaks in our hair and green splotches in our ears.

Dave and Beth