Holi festival brings in spring through Indian traditions

Attracted to the bright paint colors, ethnic foods and music, students gathered in Dunn Meadow on Friday afternoon to celebrate the Indian festival Holi and get a taste of Indian culture.

Holi, the Indian festival of colors, is a traditional holiday that symbolizes the arrival of spring and blessings to bring in a good harvest for the season. The holiday is celebrated with dancing, cultural foods and a custom of throwing paint powder and water balloons, all of which IU students experienced Friday.

“The powder is called gulal, which means rose. It’s actually rose petals ground up into powder with color added, so it smells nice and spring-like,” said Priyanka Dube, the head organizer of the Holi festival.

“Most people walking by Dunn Meadow on Friday afternoon will not know why people are throwing colored powder and water balloons at each other but will be curious to find out,” she said.

The free event included cuisine from several local restaurants, including Taste of India and others, giving students a chance to experience Indian culture firsthand. Students were able to learn about Indian culture and customs.

Along with the color fight and the water balloon throwing, Henna tattoos were available, and traditional games were set up across the field.

Many attendees, including junior Brittany Carlsen, said they enjoyed the Indian music that was played.

“I loved the music. I thought it was awesome. It was different than what I usually listen to, but I want to download this,” Carlsen said.

Carlsen said the Holi festival was unlike anything she had experienced from a different culture, and she said she was pleasantly surprised by the Indian celebration that was made available to her.

“I thought it was so interesting,” Carlsen said. “I have never been to an event that involved a culture different than my own, and I was so shocked to see how there was such a mixture of IU students. I think these events give students who are sheltered the ability to branch out and experience different events and different ethnicities. They are a really great idea.”

In honor of the recent tragedies in Japan, speakers told students about relief activities occurring at IU. Events can be found through the events calendar and include a teach-in and benefit event 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union.