Holi:The festival of Colors
On Saturday, March 30th, The Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center and the South Asian Student Association (SASA)
present the 6th Annual Holi: The Festival of Colors. The event will begin at 5:00 PM at the Student Rec Fields.
Free t-shirts will be provided, so be there at 5:00 PM to grab yours !
Holi: History and Meaning
Holi (also called Holaka or Phagwa)
is an annual festival celebrated on the day after the full moon in the
Hindu month of Phalguna (early March). It celebrates spring,
commemorates various events in Hindu mythology and is time of
disregarding social norms and indulging in general merrymaking. Holi is probably the least religious of Hindu
holidays. During Holi, Hindus attend a public bonfire, spray friends and
family with colored powders and water, and generally go a bit wild in
the streets. Originally, Holi was an agricultural festival celebrating the arrival of spring. This aspect still plays a significant part in the festival in the form of the colored powders: Holi is a time when man and nature alike throw off the gloom of winter and rejoice in the colors and liveliness of spring.
The legend commemorated by the festival of Holi involves an evil king named Hiranyakashipu. He forbade his son Prahlad from worshipping Vishnu, but Radhu continued to do offer prayers to the god. Getting angry with his son, Hiranyakashipu challenged Prahlad to sit on a pyre with his wicked aunt Holika who was believed to be immune to fire.
Prahlad accepted the challenge and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in amazement as Holika was burnt to death, while Prahlad survived without a scar to show for it. The burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi.
Holi is spread out over two days (it used to be five, and in some places it is longer). The entire holiday is associated with a loosening of social restrictions normally associated with caste, sex, status and age. Holi thus bridges social gaps and brings people together: employees and employers, men and women, rich and poor, young and old. The central ritual of Holi is the throwing and applying of colored water and powders on friends and family, which gives the holiday its common name "Festival of Colors.Holi: Rituals and Customs
"Bura na mano, Holi hai" ("don't get offended, it's Holi")
Student Learning Benefits
• Appreciate diversity and the dynamics within and among cultures.
• Understand and critically analyze global issues.
• Understand and be respectful of the beliefs and values of others.
• Develop an awareness and understanding of their identity and culture.
• Seek involvement with people from diverse cultures.
• Foster meaningful interaction between faculty and students beyond the classroom.
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