By Sahana Jayaraman
There were dance circles and breakdancing; someone did the worm, many jumped into the ODK fountain and everyone smeared brightly-colored powder across one another. It was, after all, a celebration of Holi—albeit at the University of Maryland.
Holi originates in India, where it is celebrated across the nation during early spring. Thousands of people stream into the streets to dance to a drumbeat, toss colored powder at each other, sing and eat. In short, it‘s a nationwide party with a Hindu mythological background.
According to Hindu Student Council Executive Board Member Andrew Latchman Jr., the Council has hosted Holi at UMD annually for around five years. The celebration attracts people from all walks of life, whether they identify as Hindu or not. This year’s celebration was held on April 14 on McKeldin Mall.
Aishwarya Tare, an attendee of this year’s celebration, was pleased with its diverse turnout.
“I would love to see more people know about Indian culture,” Tare said. “This [celebration] is a great way to get them included in [it].”
The freshman computer science major added that she thought student-run celebrations (like Holi) are key in connecting the campus’ Indian-American community.
“I don’t think it’s up to the university [to support the Indian-American community],” Tare said. “It has to be up to the students to do more, to be more inclusive of the Indian community. I would like to be a part of that.”
There is never a shortage of attendees for Holi at UMD, Latchman said. However, only a few among the party-goers—or even event organizers—know the festival’s mythological origins.
“I feel like I’d have a better appreciation of the festival if I knew the significance of the colors, and what they mean to the Hindu culture,” Latchman said.
Holi finds its roots within portions of Hindu lore. The colorful festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil, deriving its title from demoness Holika, whom Hindu deity Vishnu defeated as she tried to burn her nephew to death. Part of the traditional Holi celebration involves using bonfires to commemorate Holika’s downfall.
The color-throwing portion of Holi practiced on campus was born from a different myth–one that contains undertones of anti-colorism. Radha, the fair love of blue-skinned deity Krishna, allowed him to smear color on her face when he despaired that she would shun him because of his skin tone. Legend has it he enjoyed the experience so much it became part of tradition.
Though Latchman was unaware of this aspect of Holi’s history, he seemed to pick up on the celebration’s ability to foster a kind of equality.
“To me, [Holi] is a time where people come together as a community–strangers, family, friends–and no matter what, you just…throw powder at people and no one’s worried about getting dirty, or no one’s insulted,” Latchman said. “That’s the great part about it–everyone just comes together and has a great time.”
Students left the celebration laughing and covered in a thick layer of colored powder and the University of Maryland’s version of Holi seemed to fulfill the festival’s original intent. It transformed all its participants—regardless of their skin color—into works of art: beautiful, sprightly and carefree…at least, until their next shower.